


Why can't we give ourselves one more chance?

by OnyxDay



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Established Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, Joe West is Confused, Leonard Snart Knows the Future, Leonard Snart Lives, M/M, Magic, Magical Glowing Mushrooms of Mysterious Origins, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Oculus (DC's Legends of Tomorrow), Protective Leonard Snart, Ralph Dibny is Confused, Temporary Character Death, Time Whales, canon? i don't know her
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-23 12:40:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16159160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxDay/pseuds/OnyxDay
Summary: Leonard was back and that was... great.It did raise some questions amongst the STAR labs crew, but Barry figured having their secret relationship come to light was a small price to pay for Leonards (relatively) safe return.Of course, things in Central City are never quite that easy.





	1. I'm killin' your brain like a Poisonous Mushroom

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing ColdFlash, hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> I originally wrote this for Inktober 2018, but I never got around to finishing, so I'm doing a bit of a rewrite to make it more cohesive (hopefully) and turn it into a regular fanfic because I really enjoyed the story I thought up for this fic.
> 
> (Original title was Dean's Inktober 2018 Fic)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An abnormally large glowing mushroom of mysterious origins manifests in the middle of the Cortex at STAR labs and Team Flash as some... interesting ideas as to how to deal with it.
> 
> Caitlin blames Cisco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from _Ice Ice Baby_ by Vanilla Ice.
> 
> Felt appropriate.

The mushroom appeared in the middle of the Cortex three days ago and none of the STAR labs residents had any idea why or how.

Caitlin had gone at it with everything she could think of and all she had been able to get from it was that it was big, blue, and glowing - which anyone could have told her just by looking at it. In fact, Caitlin hadn't even been able to confirm that it was a mushroom with any of her tests, which was concerning in and of itself for a multitude of reasons.

Cisco hadn't had much more success with his battery of tests, though he was insistent that one of them should lick it.

They were all under strict orders not to even sneeze in its general direction, on pain of Killer Frost.

None of them had dared cross her yet.

Barry had even run his own tests on it, though they hadn't produced anything that Caitlin and Cisco hadn't found out on their own, which wasn't much.

So it had been three days and they were quickly running out of ideas regarding the mushroom, which had led them to their current predicament.

“I’m gonna lick it,” Cisco proclaims, staring at the glowing blue monstrosity mocking him from the middle of the Cortex.

“Dude, you’re not gonna lick it,” Barry insists, lounging next to his friend at the main console, snacking on a twizzler from Cisco's stash of sugar. They were supposed to be monitoring for metahuman activity - or really anything the Flash could help out with - but it was proving to be a slow night.

“We’ve done every test we can think of to find out what this thing is, and we’ve got nada. So, I’m gonna lick it,” Cisco argues. He stands as if he's actually about to approach the thing and Barry prepares himself to stop him.

“Cisco, we have no idea what it is, who sent it, or where it came from - you’re not licking it,” Caitlin says, walking out of the med bay and toward the foot-tall glowing blue mushroom currently sat in the middle of the cortex, where it had materialized three days prior. They had moved it, very carefully, onto a pedestal so they could better observe it, but aside from that and taking a few scans and swabs for testing, they hadn't touched it.

Cisco crosses his arms in defiance, sending his stubborn glare towards Caitlin.

“Yeah, c'mon, Cisco, if anyone's going to be licking this thing, it's going to be me," Barry insists, pointing his twizzler at his friend, "I've got a healing factor."

“No one is licking the mushroom!” Caitlin shouts, hair and eyes taking on a distinctly icy sheen. “And until one of the hundreds of tests we’re running comes back with a definitive answer as to whether or not this thing is poisonous, neither of you are allowed to even look at it, do I make myself clear?!”

Barry and Cisco quickly nod their heads in agreement, Barry sinking lower in his chair as Cisco cowers away from both the mushroom and Caitlin.

Thankfully, before Caitlin can continue her tirade, the alarms start blaring. Cisco quickly settles in his chair at the computer and pulls up the emergency feed, Caitlin quickly joining him as Barry speeds into his suit.

“It looks like we’ve got a fire in the warehouse district, CCFD is still six minutes out,” Cisco announces, barely able to finish his sentence before Barry is running out of STAR labs in a rush of wind and lightning, leaving him and Caitlin alone in the labs with the eerie blue glow of the mysterious fungus. 

After confirming that the warehouse is empty of potential casualties, Barry is able to take care of the fire quickly and even makes it back to the labs before the firefighters arrive on the scene. He speeds out of the suit and back into his civies without slowing down or taking in the scene in the labs and when he does finally slow down he does not see his friends calmly waiting at the desk for his return. No, when he finally slows down he finds Caitlin desperately trying to stop Cisco from licking the glowing blue mushroom while he tries to stop her from stopping him from licking the mushroom.

“Guys!” he yells, trying to get their attention. When that doesn’t work he flashes in between Cisco and the mushroom and, still at Flash speed, picks up the tiny engineer and physically moves him to the other side of the cortex, then speeds back to steady Caitlin and move her away before coming to a rest in front of the mushroom.

“Enough!” he shouts, finally drawing his friends’ attention. “You really want to know what happens when you lick the mushroom, Cisco? Fine!”

And before either scientist can stop him, Barry turns around, grabs the mushroom, and licks a long wet stripe along the white-spotted blue cap, the blue glow dimming slightly once his saliva hits the mushroom. The room freezes, everyone waiting for something to happen. Barry holds his breath. After a few seconds of nothing, the three scientists relax and heave a sigh of relief.

Then the glow comes back, brighter and bluer than before.

Barry scrambles away from the mushroom as the glow emanates outward and then upward, glowing brighter all the while until they have to close their eyes, squeezing tight to keep the light out. Once the glow fades it takes a beat for anyone to open their eyes again and when they do none of them can believe the sight before them.

“Surprised to see me, Scarlet?”

Standing in the middle of the cortex, where once sat the mushroom of mysterious origins, now stood one Leonard Snart - thief, time traveler, and, up until a minute ago, dead.

The three scientists gape at the newly revived thief/former mushroom in shock. Hey, their lives may be crazy, but there's a person where a mushroom was a moment ago and anyone would be freaked out about that, frankly, and they were no exceptions.

"Wh- I- You're alive?!" Barry exclaims.

"Apparently," Snart snarks, patting his body as if surprised by its shape. Which, considering he's been a mushroom for the past three days and who-knows-what before that, is a completely valid response to the situation.

"How?" Barry demands, taking a step towards the newly revived thief.

Snart waves his hand dismissively, "Some sort of magical ritual or something, I'll get Constantine to explain later. But more importantly, I have something to return."

With that, Len steps forward, hauls Barry close, and brings their mouths together in a kiss that quickly goes from sweet and tender to hot and wet, with Len plunging his tongue into Barry’s mouth the first chance he gets. Their tongues slide against each other and tangle as Len licks eagerly into Barry’s mouth, the speedster relaxing into the kiss and responding exuberantly. Len’s hands slide into Barry’s hair and tugs, Barry moaning into Len’s mouth and pressing his body more firmly against the older man as his hands grip his hips greedily.

They only break apart when both Caitlin and Cisco loudly clear their throats.

“Um,” Barry says, ever so eloquently.

“What the hell, Snart?” Cisco yells, looking between the two supposed enemies with a confused expression. Barry ducks his head to avoid his friend's gaze.

“Barry licked _me_ , only fair I lick him back,” Len replies with a smirk. “And I didn’t hear him complaining, did you?”

Barry's head snaps up to stare at Len, his face red and his mouth wide open. He tries to find some way to refute the claim without denying his enthusiastic consent or revealing his relationship with Len. He draws a blank and after looking between his friends - who were giving him expectant and slightly judging looks - and Len - who was looking at him with a raised brow and that ever-present smirk - Barry did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed Len and ran and didn't stop until they reached his apartment.

“Some warning would have been nice, Scarlet,” Len says once he finds his equilibrium, one hand gripping the kitchen counter to keep himself steady.

“Excuse me for panicking, but you were a mushroom a few minutes ago and dead a few minutes before that!" Barry exclaims, finally getting over his shock and quickly reaching anger. "Which, speaking of, what the hell?!"

“Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” Len deadpans.

Barry punches him in the shoulder, making sure it actually hurts.

“Ow.”

“I had to tell your sister you were dead, asshole!”

“People keep calling me that, and it's getting a little annoying,” Len mutters, rubbing at his sore shoulder. Barry hopes it bruises.

“Well then stop being one!” he yells.

"Honestly, Scarlet, I would have thought you'd be happier to see me, considering," Snart says, leveling his own glare at Barry, who gives as good as he gets.

"Considering what, exactly?" Barry growls.

And oh, how Barry hates how that brings a smirk to Len’s face, slow and pleased as it spreads from his lips to his eyes and Barry can’t believe he missed this bastard. Can’t believe he grieved for him.

“I was under a spell. Tell me, how are most spells cured, Barry?” he asks, all casual with his smirk and the leaning against Barry’s kitchen counter like he owned the place. And okay sure, maybe Len’s name was on the lease, but Barry had been paying the rent since Len decided to go off with the Legends and possession was nine-tenths of the law anyway and-

Wait, what?

“Wait, what?” Barry asks, blinking at Len, his previous anger dissipating in the wake of pure confusion.

“Fairytales, Scarlet. Surely you’ve read a few. Some poor unsuspecting fool gets put under a spell and our dashing hero comes along to fix them with-”

“True love’s kiss?!” Barry shouts. “Wha- I'm not in love with you! I mean, how could I have even have fallen in love with you, we barely even had time to start whatever this is before you hopped on a time ship! And it's not like we spent much time _talking_ when you came to visit, so there's no way I could have fallen in love, actually. And then you died, which was devastating of course, but just because I mourned your death doesn't mean I'm in love with you, I've mourned a lot of people's deaths, which, wow, that's actually really sad. But, yeah, no, I mean I care about you and I missed you, of course, but love is, you know, a bit of a leap in logic, and um, totally inappropriate for me to be feeling after a handful of encounters." Barry may or may not be slightly hysterical by the end of his little rant.

“The fact that I’m no longer a mushroom says otherwise,” Len remarks, a certain sparkle in his ice blue eyes that Barry has only seen on the battlefield and in the bedroom. It makes something hot settle in his stomach and he can hardly stop the flush that crawls further up his neck.

“W-well who said the kiss _er_ had to be in love anyway? Maybe _you’re_ in love with _me_ , huh?” Barry replies, a quiver in his voice that has everything to do with the way Len’s looking at him and nothing to do with the fact that he’s lying out of his ass. Not that Barry is lying to Len. I mean, what reason would he have to do that, it's not like he's had his heart broken after confessing his feelings before and still has some residual self-esteem issues due to said experience, that's just ridiculous. Who would even suggest such a thing?

Len quirks one perfect brow and lets his gaze slide up and down Barry's jittery form, “Oh, I’m _absolutely_ in love with you Scarlet, that’s never been a question. What I wanna know, is are _you_ in love with _me_?” Len pushes off against the kitchen counter and saunters over to Barry, that predatory sparkle still in his eyes but now that he’s closer Barry can spot the cracks at the edges where doubt slips in. Here’s Captain Cold, laying his soul bare for the Flash and Barry has to choose whether to nurture it or stomp it into the ground.

Like he even has a choice.

Barry sheds his facade like he shed the Flash suit, stepping forward into Len’s embrace and sagging against the older man.

“Of course I love you, Len,” he says, voice cracking with the weight of it. Telling Iris he had been in love with her hadn't felt like this, like a piece of him was finally slotting into place - heavy and warm and deep in his soul, in his heart. He pulls back a fraction of a foot and lifts a hand to caress Len’s face - over his cheekbone, his jaw, behind his ear to the back of his head - and then his other hand comes up and cups his jaw and suddenly they’re kissing and it’s like every time before and nothing like that at all. It’s grief and homecoming and tender and hot and most of all it’s love love _love_.

And then Len pulls away because they both need air, and with his most shit-eating grin he says, “You know, there are a few other places I wouldn’t mind being licked. Or do some licking in return.”

And Barry has no choice but to speed them both into the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea why, but whenever I think of something being poisonous, I automatically think of mushrooms.


	2. So quiet and peaceful, Tranquil and blissful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Barry have a conversation about choice and death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from _A Winter's Tale_ by Queen

It's later, much later, that they find themselves laying together on the bed that Barry has considered his for the past few years. There's only a thin sheet covering them, a damp washcloth thrown casually on the side table that Barry really should move before it stains a watermark into the wood, but he can't find it in himself to move from where he's entangled with Len, even if it would only take him a few seconds at superspeed. Barry can feel Len's breath evening out underneath him, though the speedster himself is still wide awake. He already texted Caitlin and Cisco that he wouldn't be coming back to STAR labs tonight a few hours ago when they broke for food, so he doesn't even have the distraction of texting them to take his mind off the persistent question running through his head. He doesn't want to ask Len, doesn't want to ruin the way his face is finally starting to even out as he falls asleep, but the thought won't leave him alone and he knows he won't get any sleep until it's answered. 

"What was it like?" he blurts, startling Len out of the light doze he had fallen into. Barry tries not to feel guilty about that. He fails.

“You know you’re always spectacular, Scarlet,” Len replies with a wicked grin, somehow still looking devastatingly attractive while blinking sleep out of his eyes.

“You know that’s not what I was talking about,” Barry says. He tilts his head up and captures Len’s eyes with his. “What was it like, being dead?”

Len looks away and Barry can't help berating himself for letting the question pass his lips. Len had just gotten his life back, he didn't want to think about his death, no matter how morbidly curious Barry happens to be. Barry would have kicked himself if he weren't so tangled up with Len. Instead, he watches Len's face, the way his eyes seem to cloud over as he thinks over his answer.

“Quiet,” Len finally settles on. Barry sits up and scoots back until his back hits the headboard, Len doing the same until they’re sitting side-by-side in the bed. Sleep is no longer a thing either of them is thinking about.

“Do you-? I mean, do you remember it?” Barry hates himself for even asking, but the guilt that's been steadily growing in the pit of his stomach since he learned of Leonard's death demands to be feed.

Len turns his head, shifting so his upper body is fully facing the speedster, and levels Barry with a heavy look.

“Yes, Barry. I remember dying. I remember how afraid I was as the Time Masters closed in on me. I remember how the Oculus shredded through me, I remember how every atom in my body was picked apart and strewn into the very fabric of Time. I remember how excruciating the pain of it was. I remember how much worse the pain of reforming was, how each of my atoms came back together within the timestream. I remember it taking decades, centuries, millennia, and mere seconds all at once of the most intense pain I have ever felt to finally reform. I remember drifting through Time, alone, for who knows how long. Is that what you want to hear?" Len snarls, bitter and angry and nearly spitting his accusations into Barry's face. Barry can't help his flinch back in the face of Snarts vitriol.

“No!” Barry insists, shaking his head vehemently. “Of course not! God, Len I- I could never want you to go through that.” He reaches out to grab onto Len's arms but stops himself before he connects, unsure if his touch would be welcome. He drops his hands back onto the mattress. "I would never..."

“Then I don’t know what to tell you, Scarlet," Len spits, sighing as he sits back against the headboard. If he noticed Barry's aborted movement he doesn't mention it. "Yes, I remember all of it. No, I don’t want to talk about it. And no, I don’t blame you for my death, whatever your twisted little psyche wants you to think.” Len levels him with a heavy look and Barry has the sense to look ashamed. It doesn't stop him from feeling responsible, though.

“But I pushed you into it, the whole hero thing. If I hadn’t- if you had stayed as the Flash’s villain, you never would have gone through that.” He can't look at Len in the face, instead directing his gaze to his hands where they're fiddling with the sheet covering them. The reminder of the tender touches they had been sharing not thirty minutes earlier cuts through him.

Len lets out a sharp breath through his nose and scrubs his hands over his head. He lets out a soft curse and turns so he's fully facing Barry again, gently taking Barry's face in his hands and turning the speedster to face him, tapping him softly on the chin so Barry looks him in the eyes.

“Barry Allen, you listen to me. You are not responsible for my death, no matter how short-lived it was. I have seen the time stream and I have seen my choice play out in a hundred thousand different ways and the ones where I sacrificed myself were always the versions I was most proud of. Maybe I would have lived longer as Captain Cold: villain, but I wouldn’t have had this,” he brushes his thumb against Barry’s cheek. “I know you, Scarlet, and you never would have given yourself to a cold-hearted criminal.”

Barry can’t help but laugh at the pun, dropping his head to rest on Len’s shoulder and finally letting the tears in his eyes fall.

“I missed you.”

“I know, Scarlet, I know.” Len presses a soft kiss to Barry's forehead. He gently prompts him to lay back down, tucking the light blanket around them both and cuddling close. "Now get some sleep, Barry."

_The Oculus hurt as it imploded. The light burned the eyes first, then the pure stream of Time hit and your very molecules unraveled and reformed and spread across the fourth dimension. Time hurt when it hit you. And as your body was unraveling, your soul, your essence, your very being was swept along by the timestream and you were forced to relive your entire life, birth, death, and beyond. Your every decision laid bare and judged, countless outcomes experienced simultaneously until you could no longer remember which choice you made. Time had no meaning in the timestream, it simply was, and if you were unlucky enough to be stuck in it, you would go insane long before you fully grasped how it worked._

_Leonard Snart had the incredible ~~privilege~~ unfortunate disadvantage of being one of the few living (for a given definition of the word “living”) beings to have witnessed the full force of Time and lived to tell about it, in an even halfway coherent manner._

_When asked, he would give a different answer depending on who did the asking._

_“Loud.” When Sara asked._

_“Bright.” When Mick finally cornered him alone._

_“Annoying. Like this conversation.” When the new walking haircut tried to get more information out of him._

_“Vast.” When the new girl wouldn’t stop pestering him about it._

_“Painful.” When Ray finally got up to courage to ask, said with a sneer just to see him flinch. Not a proud moment._

_“Quiet.” When the love of his life (and death, and resurrection) couldn’t keep his curiosity down any longer._

_And when his sister asked, shaky and tearful as they saw each other again for the first time, he simply smiled and shook his head. “Tranquil, Lise. I could see everything, every decision, every moment. All of Time. And I knew I had done the best I could.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but one filled with a lot of emotional stuff. I had intended this to be a light and fluffy chapter, but instead, Barry and Len insisted on providing some emotional drama. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	3. Maybe you know where you are, fighting Fire with Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another warehouse fire interrupts Len and Barry's attempt at a date, or at least a food run, and Len realizes there are some consequences to being lost in the timestream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from _Burning Down the House_ by Talking Heads

They sleep in well into the afternoon, and even after that it takes them a few hours before they actually get out of bed - they have a lot of catching up to do, after all. In fact, they don't actually get out of bed until Barry's speedster metabolism makes itself known rather loudly. They decide to go out to eat since they all but decimated they food still in the apartment last night and Len confessed to having a strange craving for stuffed mushrooms - Barry can't help but laugh at him for it.

Of course, this being their lives, they can't even make it through one half-assed date without something interrupting them.

Barry's laughing as Len recounts one of the Legends' more amusing mishaps through time - made all the more entertaining by the addition of the stuffed mushroom diorama Len crafts on his plate - when his phone buzzes. He glances down to check it, thinking it's probably just Iris checking in with him, but the mirth instantly leaves him when he sees the metahuman alert flashing instead. Len pauses in his storytelling when he sees the change in Barry's mood and the speedster looks up at him sheepishly.

"I'm so sorry," he says, pulling his wallet from his pocket and shoving cash onto the table to cover their bill, plus a very generous tip (he may hate him with a passion, but he can't deny that inheriting Wellsobard's fortune has its perks).

"Scarlet," Len raises an eyebrow at him, "you better not be thinking of leaving me here while you go play hero alone."

Barry flushes, having been planning to do just that. Aside from a very brief relationship with Iris, he hasn't actually dated anyone who knew his identity and certainly not someone who could actually go out into the field with him.

They duck into an alley and after checking that no one was watching, Barry picks Len up and whisks them to STAR Labs. He deposits Len in the cortex while he goes to retrieve the coldgun from where they stored after the Legends dropped it off after Len's apparent death. Mick had wanted to keep it, but as one of the few people that actually knew about their relationship, he decided to give it to Barry instead. It was oddly kind of him.

When Barry makes it back to the cortex it's to the sight of Cisco in most of his Vibe gear threatening Len while Caitlin stands nearby, and icy sheen overlaying her normally warm brown eyes.

"Woah, woah, woah!" he yelps, rushing over to Len's side and throwing his arms out in an attempt to pacify his friends. "It's okay, he's with me!"

"Yeah, we kinda figured after the lip-lock yesterday and the fact that he appeared in a flash of lightning," Cisco replies, still not lowering his hands from where they were pointed at Barry's ~~boyfriend~~ ~~lover~~ _significant other_ (or whatever he and Len were). Barry doesn't miss the soft huff of laughter from Len at the unintentional pun.

"Cisco! Flash emergency, we don't have time for this," Barry reminds him, risking the few seconds to change into his suit.

Cisco reluctantly lowers his hands and takes up his station at the main console, sending distrustful glances towards Len as he does.

"It's another warehouse fire, a couple blocks from the one yesterday," Cisco fills him in while Barry gets one of their extra comms for Len to use. "Should be pretty standard."

Barry nods and scoops Len up, speeding them to the site of the fire, setting him down a fair distance from the burning building. He makes sure Len is steady and has the coldgun powered up before stepping away.

“I’m going to do a quick sweep to see if there’s anyone inside, you stay here and try to keep the flames contained.”

He runs into the flames before Len can even open his mouth, but Captain Cold won’t let something as simple as the Speedforce keep him from telling Barry off for rushing in without a plan. Again.

“You had better come out of there alive, Scarlet, or I’ll kill you,” Len drawls into the commlink, even as he unleashes the coldgun onto the flames, freezing them as they burn and turning them into ice sculptures that even Mick would enjoy.

“Relax, Len. The warehouse is clear, just like all the other ones,” Barry’s voice comes over the comms, the roar of the fire louder inside the burning building. “I’ll take care of the fire inside, you keep dousing it from the outside.”

Len growls but points the gun toward the next patch of burning warehouse, regardless. Then, with a sickening lurch, he gets the feeling that something is _wrong_.

_Len had barely resurfaced from the most recent memory he had been forced to relive - a charming winter scene of his father coming at him with a belt - when the timestream showed him its next vision. He watched as the Flash ran into a burning building - some warehouse that was probably better off as scorched rubble anyway - while some version of Captain Cold fought the flames from the outside. He watched from the outside as this other him froze the flames in place, extinguishing them but leaving behind flame-like ice sculptures in their place, then suddenly - as if he were watching a tv show - he was inside the warehouse, watching as Barry sucked the air out of the room and suffocated the flames. He smiled to himself at seeing the Scarlet Speedster play hero. The smile was quick to leave his face, however, when he saw the dark figures creeping up behind the speedster. He tried to cry out, but there was no sound in the timestream aside from the roar of time as it passed him by - not that it would have mattered anyway, whatever he was seeing was out of his control. Barry was still standing where he had been, seemingly talking to the other Len through his comm link, a proud smile on his face. Len wished he could do something, but he was helpless as two of the mysterious thugs jumped the speedster, the hero taken by surprise and giving the men the chance to slap some power dampening cuffs on him - no doubt stolen from the CCPD, or perhaps STAR labs itself (they really needed to upgrade their security system, they were far too easy to steal from). Then one of the thugs, the leader no doubt, hit Barry over the head with a pipe and had his lackeys carry him from the building, exiting only moments before Other Len stormed into the room._

Len gasps as the memory fades, breathing heavy and with a cold sweat beading at his brow.

“Scarlet, as soon as the flames are out, get out of there,” he pants, already running toward the nearest entrance.

“I just put them out, what’s wrong?” Barry asks and Len feels his heart drop into his stomach.

“Barry get out of there, _now_!” he yells, slamming into the doors and into the warehouse. He catches the briefest flash of lightning passing him as he hurtles into the building, but rather than turning around and following his ~~boyfriend~~ ~~lover~~ Scarlet out of it, he simply pivots and encases the entrance in a thick sheet of ice to keep the speedster out, if only for a short while. He then sprints to the place he remembers seeing the other criminals in that glimpse of the future, ignoring the frantic voices of Team Flash in his ear and shutting off his comms.

He finds the three criminals exactly where he thought they would be, and slows his pace to a saunter as he approaches.

“Apparently, you three didn’t get the memo,” he drawls, pulling the Cold persona around him like a warm blanket. “The Flash is _mine_.”

The would-be kidnappers startle at his voice and quickly raise their flamethrowers - though now that he can take a proper look at them, they look a lot more like a bastardized version of Mick’s gun.

“S-Snart?” One of them, the apparent leader if he remembers correctly, stutters out.

“The one and the same, but you can call me _Cold_ ,” he sneers, raising the coldgun higher when one of the lackeys dares take a step toward him. “I wouldn’t come any closer if I were you unless you want to lose your toes. And probably the rest of your legs, too.”

The lackey steps back.

“We heard you was dead,” the leader says, raising his chin in defiance like he’s a big man. He still doesn’t step any closer, though.

“I got better,” Len replies, leveling his coldest glare at the kid. And he has to be a kid, he looks younger than even Barry. And doesn’t that thought make Len feel his age. “Which is more than will be said about you if you don’t explain exactly what you were doing attempting to ambush _my_ hero.”

“It wasn’t our idea, man!” Lackey #2 stutters. He shifts backward as Len levels his gaze on him, a cold sweat beading on the poor kid’s forehead. “We were just paid to bring in the Flash, that’s all!”

“By _whom_?” Len snarled, stepping forward quick enough for all three goons to flinch and eye the coldgun.

“Caleb, _shut up_ ,” Leader says. Lackey #2, Caleb apparently, shoots a quick glance his way before returning his gaze to Len.

“I don’t know, he never gave us a name or anything. He was real fast though, like, _Flash_ fast-”

“ _Shut up_!” Leader shouts, moving toward Caleb with the pipe intended for Barry, but not reaching him before Len can get a shot off with the coldgun and freezing his feet to the floor.

“Where were you meant to take him after your little kidnapping scheme?” Len asks Caleb. Caleb shakes his head.

“He’ll kill me, man.”

Len sighs and tuts, raising the coldgun at him.

“I’ll do much worse if you don’t tell me where I can find this mysterious speedster. No one comes into _my_ town and messes with _my_ Flash without consequences.” He takes a step closer, Caleb and the other lackey jerking back as he does. “Now tell me, _where were you taking him_?”

“Snart!”

And there’s Barry, sliding in between Len and the thugs, taking the coldgun from his hand as he does.

“Out of my way, _Flash_ ,” he snarls.

“No.”

Len steps even closer, right in Barry’s face. To his credit, Barry doesn’t even flinch, just locks eyes with him behind that stupid mask that does hardly anything to hide his secret identity.

“I’m taking him to the hospital so they can _try_ to save his feet. Then, I’m taking his buddies to the police where they will be arrested for arson. _Then_ , I’m coming back here and you’re going to explain to me _exactly what you were doing_ ,” Barry hisses, an intensity to him that Len hasn’t seen before. Perhaps when he surprised him at the West home that one Christmas, but even that pales in comparison. It sends a shiver down Len’s spine.

Then, in a flash of lightning, the leader disappears, followed by Caleb and Lackey #1. Len shouts and kicks at a flame-damaged wall.

When Barry returns, followed by the trailing lightning and a gust of wind that brings along with it the smell of roasted warehouse, he is empty-handed and furious.

“What the hell, Snart?”

“So we’re back to Snart now?” Len asks, raising his eyebrow sarcastically and crossing his arms.

“If you’re going to use my trust to just go back to being a common criminal, then _yes_ , we’re back to Snart!” Barry yells, shaking his head. Len scoffs.

“Is that what you thought I was doing?”

Barry rubs a hand down his face and nods. “What else, was I supposed to think? You iced me out, literally, went radio silent, then I find you threatening random people. What’s the explanation there?”

Len grits his teeth and looks away. He counts to four and turns back, a little calmer than before.

“They were going to knock you out and bring you to their boss, yet another evil speedster that probably wants to _kill_ you. None of which we would have known about, had I not threatened those _thugs_ ,” he says, spitting the last word like it hurt to say it. “And I would have found out their boss's location if you hadn’t stopped me.”

The disappointed look Barry gives him pulls at something in Len’s chest.

“You iced that guys feet to the floor, Len.” Barry shakes his head and frowns.

“He was going to attack the only one of those goons that had any common sense,” Len defends himself. “Besides, as soon as I was inside I changed the coldgun to its lowest setting. He might have some minor frostbite, but he’ll be fine.”

“He better be,” Barry mutters, still obviously perturbed.

“You knew who I was when we started this thing, Scarlet, and just because I’ve been playing hero for a while doesn’t mean I’ve changed. Now can we focus on the real problem here, or have you forgotten about the evil speedster?” Len drawls.

Barry sighs.

“You can explain back at the Cortex.”

He then, much to Len’s annoyance, picked him up and ran them back to STAR Labs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to the one commenter that mentioned stuffed mushrooms - I couldn't help but include your recommendation during these rewrites!


	4. I put a Spell on you because you're mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief interlude to explore how, exactly, one becomes a glowing mushroom of mysterious origins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from _I Put a Spell on You_ by Screamin' Jay Hawkins (though personally, I prefer the Nina Simone version)

The story of how Leonard Snart became a mushroom went a little something like this:

_He had been minding his own business, floating along in the timestream, getting random bits of memory and future and possibility streamed directly into his brain when he happened across a wonderfully familiar sight._

_The Waverider, in all its futuristic glory, was gliding through the timestream, completely unaware that it had just stumbled upon one of its former crew members. Len, having practiced ‘swimming’ through the timestream many times before this, quickly moved toward it. While he no longer possessed a physical body, his_ spirit _, or whatever he was now, looked and acted exactly the same as he had in life - though with the added bonus of being able to phase through things, as he found out when he 'swam' right through the hull of the time ship. Being something like an astral projection, the concept of ‘gravity’ had no real bearing on his interactions with the world (not that he had a lot of experience with it, seeing as how he had been floating in the endless stream of Time before now), but he still found himself setting his feet on the floor of the ship and walking through it as he had done countless times when he was alive._

_(Whether he still counted as ‘alive’ in this spirit form was yet to be decided.)_

_He made his way through the ship and toward the bridge, drinking in the familiar walls and the hum of the engines. The doors didn’t open for him, but it hardly mattered when he could just walk through them like they weren’t there._

_Most of the team was on the bridge when he arrived, including some new faces he didn’t recognize. Sara was talking with some blonde lady through Gideon's version of Skype, Ray and some new guy with an even more pretentious haircut were being nerds about something, while Mick and an Arab girl he had never seen before chatted in the corner. Snart even saw a trail of lighting zipping into the room, which turned out to be Wally West, who Len had seen in his Time visions, though he had never met the kid himself. The Hawks, Firestorm, and Rip were nowhere to be seen, and Len presumed they had decided to leave the ship sometime after his death._

_“Mick,” Len said, striding over to his partner, but the pyro didn’t react. “Mick,” Len said again, louder, as he stepped right into the big lug’s space. He reached out to touch him, but his hand slid right through._

_Right. Incorporeal. He didn’t technically exist, so he couldn’t interact with the real world._

_“Dammit,” Len sighed, walking over to the jump seats and collapsing into them. He was surprised he didn't just fall right through them, but he supposed whatever was keeping him from phasing through the floor kept him from falling on his ass too._

_He sat there for a while, watching the crew move about and chat with each other while he was stuck as a simple observer. He couldn’t even knock something off the desk like a proper ghost._

_“Who’re you, then?” A voice suddenly asked from the seat at his side. There was a blond man sitting there with a trenchcoat and an unlit cigarette in his mouth._

_“Leonard Snart," Len said, eyeing the other man suspiciously, "and you are?”_

_“You can call me Constantine,” the Brit replied, taking the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and tucking it behind his ear. “I’d hold out my hand, but I think we both know you can’t shake it. Though I must say, you don’t seem too surprised that I can see you. Or that you’re incorporeal.”_

_“Used to live in Central City. Once you’ve gone toe-to-toe with the Flash, nothing surprises you,” Len said, a quirk in his brow and a drawl to his voice._

_“Fair enough,” Constantine acquiesced, with a nod of his head and a shrug of his shoulders. “So what brings you to the Waverider in all your incorporeal splendor?”_

_The former thief shrugged, “I was part of the crew 'fore I died. Saw it while floating in the timestream, thought I’d pop in to say ‘hi’, ‘cept no one seems to be able to see me, aside from you,” Len explained._

_“Suppose I’m just special like that," Constantine replies with a grin. "Master of the Occult, me, so’s I get the pleasure of seeing your lovely face and the faces of loads of other ghosties and demons and such. Much prefer yours, if I do say so myself.”_

_Both of Len’s eyebrows crept up his forehead as he did a quick sweep of Constantine’s body. He was very handsome, in that rugged sort of way people liked. Len preferred his men a little more… Barry. Though if he weren’t involved with the Scarlet Speedster… Well, he wouldn’t say no._

_“Sorry, got someone back home,” Len told him, not unkindly but with that little bit of drawl to it that said not to push it._

_“A bit of light flirting never hurt no one,” Constantine countered with a grin._

_“So long as it stays flirting,” Len replied. "I've had a few problems with that in the past. Prefer not to have a repeat."_

_“Talking to yourself is never a good sign, John,” Sara said, suddenly standing in front of the two men._

_"Speak of the devil," Len muttered to himself._

_“Ah, but I’m not talking to myself, now am I?” Constantine countered. “I’ll have you know I’m having a very nice chat with someone named Leonard Snart. Claims he was part of the crew?”_

_“Snart?” Sara asked, drawing the attention of the other Legends. Mick quickly made his way over and stood next to Sara, arms crossed over his chest._

_“What’d you say about my partner?” he growled. Len couldn't help the smile the formed in the face of Mick's loyalty._

_“He’s sitting right beside me. Go on then, say hello,” Constantine informed them, nodding to the space where Len was sitting._

_Len tutted and shook his head, “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to convince them I'm really here.”_

_“And what do you suggest, then?” Constantine asked, swiveling his head to talk to Len directly._

_“Tell Sara she uses too much tongue,” Len suggested with a smirk._

_“Has to be something I wouldn’t know on my own,” he countered, shaking his head._

_Len nodded his head in a 'fair enough' sort of gesture and took a moment to think. “Say, 'Alexa',” Len answered after taking a moment to think._

_“Right, he says to tell you, ‘Alexa’, whatever that means,” Constantine said, directing his attention to Mick and Sara again._

_Sara looked noticeably shocked for a moment, before reschooling her features, but Mick dropped his arms and directed a heated glare toward the space where Len was sitting._

_“You asshole, Snart,” he growled._

_“Now, now Mick, there’s no need to get all emotional,” Len drawls, trusting Constantine to deliver his message - which he does, of course, though it ends up a bit altered from its original state._

_“That’s not funny, Snart. We thought you were dead. You shoulda seen the look on Scarlet’s face when he found out. The kid was devastated.”_

_Len froze and, despite the fact that he didn't need to any more, his breath caught in his throat. Barry. He hadn't let himself think of the scarlet speedster's reaction - how at first he wouldn't believe it. How Mick would hand over his ring and the coldgun and apologize. How Barry's face would crumple as the truth hit him and he fell to the floor with the weight of his grief. How Mick, the softie, would kneel next to him and let him cry into his shoulder. How Barry would have to hide the true extent of his grief from the team because none of them knew they were together._

_Okay, so maybe he had thought about it a lot. At least the timestream had been kind enough to spare him the actual scene. Len didn't know if he could have taken it; watching Lisa hear the news had been tough enough._

_Sara frowned and turned to Mick in confusion._

_“Who’s Scarlet?”_

_“The boss’s boy toy,” Mick answered curtly._

_“Wait, Cold and Barry were dating?” Wally asked, zipping over to the group with a trail of lighting._

_“You were dating the_ Flash _?” Ray asked, suddenly joining them and addressing Len’s seemingly empty chair._

 _“You were_ dating _the Flash?” Sara asked, a distinct fire in her eyes that said she didn’t like being made the other woman. Which was understandable, given her history with the Arrow, even if nothing more than a kiss and some flirting happened between them._

_“A bit of light flirting and a dying man's last kiss hardly a cheater makes. Besides, Scarlet and I never formally defined our relationship as anything more than casual,” Len told Constantine. The Brit winced._

_“Short version is, it's complicated,” Constantine ferried._

_“You asshole, Snart.”_

_“Great, Captain Cold's an asshole, glad we can all agree on that," the new guy piped up. Len glared at him, though it didn't exactly have any effect seeing as how he couldn't see him._

_"Can we help him?" New girl asked, joining the group along with the rest of the Legends._

_"Who says I want to be helped?" Len drawls, waiting as Constantine ferries the message on. "Maybe I like being the proverbial ghost in the shell."_

_"Shut up, Snart," Mick growls. "We all know you're full of shit and that you'd rather be living than whatever the hell you are now."_

_Len acquiesces the point, trusting his silence on the matter to answer for him._

_“I’ve an idea, if you're interested," Constantine pipes up, "but there's not much I can do drifting about in a time ship like bloody Doctor Who."_

_"Well, what_ do _you need?" Sara asks._

_“Well I'm not just saving a soul from Hell. Comparatively, that's a lot easier than pulling a soul from the timestream and crafting them a new body. I’ll need some help of the magical variety.” Constantine stood and adjusted his trenchcoat before approaching the center console. “Gideon, love, would you mind charting a course for Gotham, 2018?”_

_“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Gotham?" Ray asked. "Are we sure we want to go there?"_

_“If we’re going to bring Len back, we need someone stronger than me helping,” Constantine replied. "And since she lives in Gotham, I don't see us having much of a choice on the matter."_

* * *

_Walking out of the Waverider was a shock. Len hadn’t even been sure he could leave the timestream, yet here he was, walking on the solid Gotham streets. Though, to be fair he wasn’t technically ‘walking’ - he was actually floating a fraction of a centimeter off the ground. Not that anyone except Constantine could see him._

_“Right, big ol’ Batsy doesn’t like heroes and metas coming into his city without his permission, so we only need a small crew for this one,” Constantine explained, looking out at Gotham at dusk as the Legends crowded around the loading bay._

_Sara and Mick quickly volunteered their services, with the new girl Zari joining them to round out the team. The rest of the Legends were encouraged to stay on the ship, but it was unlikely that they would actually listen to that advice, even with Ray babysitting them. In fact, Len was proven right immediately, with Wally zipping out of the Waverider with a hasty explanation of going to see an old friend and not to worry because he had permission to be there from Batman. Len honestly wasn't even surprised that the kid knew the caped crusader. Speedsters, honestly._

_So Len floated along with the small team of Legends as they journeyed into Gotham proper, just as the sun was dipping below the buildings._

_“Are you sure night was the best time to go traipsing through Gotham?” Len asked._

_“The Bat and I have an agreement,” Constantine answered. “He doesn’t bother me while I’m in the city, and I’m kept on retainer if any of his sidekicks find themselves in the afterlife.”_

_“That happen often?” Len asked._

_Constantine turned and gave him a wry look. “More often than you’d think.”_

_“This is so weird,” Zari said, frowning at Constantine and the space where Len should be. “It’s like listening to half a phone conversation.”_

_“'s a good a metaphor as any,” Constantine replied. “My magic lets me talk to people in the astral plane, sort of a spiritual phone of sorts.”_

_“Any way to make this a conference call?” Sara asked._

_“Not until we get to our destination.”_

_Mick grunted._

_“And where_ exactly _are we going?” Len asked. Constantine just stuck a cigarette in his mouth and rummaged through his pockets in search of a lighter._

_Which it turned out he didn’t need, as a second later the cigarette was lit._

_“Ta, very much, love,” Constantine said, nodding to a dark alleyway. A woman dressed as a stage magician - or rather Hugh Heffner's version of a stage magician - stepped out of the shadows and fixed Constantine with a dark look. This is why Len always avoided coming to Gotham - they're all a bunch of drama queens._

_“What do you need_ now _, John?” she asked, arms crossed over her chest._

_“I’ve got a lost soul needs saving, Zatanna,” he answered. Len watched as she looked in his direction and raised an eyebrow._

_“You want my help resurrecting Captain Cold?” She quirked an eyebrow in obvious disdain._

_“Nice to know I have a fan,” Len drawled, quirking an eyebrow back at the magician._

_“If it makes you feel better, he did give his life to save the universe,” Sara piped up._

_Zatanna sighed and gave Len another once over. “Fine, come with me.”_

_They followed her into a tiny magic shop situated at the back of the alley, the neon signs advertising tarot and palm readings. In the window, there was a poster for the “AMAZING ZATARA”, an older man with a strong resemblance to Zatanna, even down to the corny costume, though his had actual pants on it._

_Mick grunted as he ducked into the shop, the various herbs and scarves hanging from the ceiling forcing to hunch down._

_“This up to fire code?” he asked._

_“Mick, no,” Len said, despite knowing the man couldn’t hear him. Zatanna looked between the two and smiled._

_“Fire’s not really a problem when you can control the elements,” Zatanna answered, opening her hand to reveal a self-contained flame flickering on her palm. Mick stared at the flame with a gleam in his eyes and Len laughed at his friend. He had missed him while he was dead - or whatever he was._

_“Less chat, more resurrection,” Constantine said. Zatanna rolled her eyes and closed her hand, extinguishing the flame along the way._

_She led them further into the shop, into the back (through an actual beaded curtain - Len hadn’t seen one of those since the seventies) and told them to sit around a circular table. There was even a crystal ball resting atop the velvet tablecloth._

_“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Zari muttered, settling in between Sara and Mick._

_“Don’t mock the magical arts, Zari Tomaz, they’re more ancient than even your fancy little necklace,” Zatanna called from another back room where she and Constantine had disappeared to. Zari's eyes went wide and she promptly shut up. Zatanna returned with an armful of dried herbs and other unmentionable things in glass bottles. Constantine followed her, carrying his own armful of magical detritus._

_They puttered about for a few moments (147 seconds, to be exact) before settling at the table in the seats on either side of Len._

_“It’s gonna feel dorky, but we’re all going to join hands now,” Zatanna instructed, grasping Mick’s hand while Constantine took Sara’s. The Legends reluctantly took each other’s hands and for a moment they sat there looking like a bunch of dumbasses about to sing Kumbaya or something equally ridiculous. Then Zatanna and Constantine completed the circle by resting their hands atop Len’s incorporeal ones. A shiver ran through the group, then Sara gasped, staring directly at Len._

_"We better not start singing Kumbaya," Len drawled. "I think I'd rather stay dead."_

_“Len?” she asked, blinking at him._

_“Were you expecting someone else?” Len replied._

_“Shut up, Snart,” Mick growled. “Good to see you.”_

_“You too, Mick. N_ ice _to meet you, Miss Tomaz.” Len nodded to the woman in question and she just stared at him for a moment before shaking her head._

_“We’ve met. Well, I meet a past version of you that was pulled into the future as part of a plot to rewrite the universe, but, uh, it’s nice to meet non-evil you, I guess.”_

_“I wouldn’t go that far, not exactly on the right side of the law,” Len drawled._

_“Right, good, everyone can see him now,” Zatanna said, bringing their attention back to her. “Just so we're all aware, magic isn't an exact science. Those of us with the ability can guide it and shape it to our will, but it tends to be a bit... finicky. Especially when it comes to resurrection spells.”_

_"I'm not going to come back as a mushroom or something, am I?" Len questioned dubiously._

_"It's a possibility," Zatanna answered, "but most things like that can be fixed by true love's kiss."_

_"Don't worry, Snart," Mick piped up, "you turn into a mushroom and we'll take you right to Scarlet and get you all fixed up."_

_"Great," Len drawled, rolling his eyes at his partner. "Can we get this show on the road now? I'm not too keen to stay like this much longer."_

_Zatanna nodded towards Constantine. "You're up first, John."_

_Without breaking the circle of their arms, Constantine leaned forward and started chanting in something that sounded a lot like Latin. The candles flared to life and everyone except for Mick flinched away from them. Constantine kept chanting and the flames grew higher and higher until Len was worried that the scarves hanging from the ceiling would catch fire. They died back just before the whole place caught fire, but it was a near thing. Constantine sat back and then Zatanna took over, though he kept up a constant stream of Latin while she did her own chanting, which was decidedly_ not _Latin._

_“Nruter mih ot sih ydob, nruter mih ot sih efil, nruter mih ot sih evol,” Zatanna kept chanting, over and over again and as she did, Len felt his body flickering between the astral plane and the physical one. He gripped the magicians’ hands as his body returned to him. But something felt wrong, like he was being tugged away from the circle, like his body didn’t want to manifest here._

_“Something’s wrong,” he tried to say, but nothing came out. He felt his pulse rise as Zatanna kept chanting and Constantine's own Latin chants growing louder to match. His body started solidifying faster and for longer stretches of time, but every time it did, he felt the tug stronger._

_With a magical surge that even Sara felt, Len found himself sitting among them, panting and darting his eyes around the room._

_“Something’s wrong,” he said, just before he was engulfed in a blinding light._

And that was how Leonard Snart found himself sitting in the Cortex of STAR labs as a mushroom, until true love’s kiss (well, true love’s lick, but semantics) brought him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that I have only watched a few of the Legends episodes with Constantine in them and that the majority of this was written before the latest season came out. Also, fuck canon. I do really wish I could've gotten a canon Earth 1!Len and Constantine interaction - I feel like they'd either get on really well or they'd hate each other.
> 
> Also, Len in this chapter is basically that one John Mulaney quote that's like "This might as well happen".


	5. Ain't nobody here but us Chickens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the warehouse fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to our regularly scheduled plotline.
> 
> Title from _Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens_ by Louis Jordan

Barry sets him down in STAR Labs and Len takes a moment to reorient himself before focusing on the ruckus happening around him.

Cisco and Caitlin are yelling about Captain Cold turning his comms off, Iris West had shown up at some point and is staring at him perplexed, the new Wells (thank god for Barry giving him a rundown of everyone currently working with Team Flash last night) is asking why no one told him there had been a mushroom of mysterious origins in the lab (or that it had turned into a formerly dead former villain), and Barry is just staring at Len with a frown on his face.

“Would you all just sHUT UP!”

The room is suddenly silent as everyone stares at Len.

“There is an evil speedster who sent thugs after Barry to kidnap him. Thoughts?”

“Another one?” Cisco asks, entirely too blasé. “Man, I’m tired of fighting evil speedsters. Why can’t we ever get _good_ speedsters?”

“Hey!” Wells and Iris protest. Cisco waves them off.

“Wally and Jesse don’t count,” he says.

Len stares at them incredulously. “Barry is in _danger_ and you’re complaining about his villains?”

“ _You're_ one of his villains, Snart, in case you forgot that you've threatened half the people in this room," Iris reminds him. "And don't you think for a _second_ that I won't be getting the whole story out of you later Bartholomew.” Barry swallows nervously at Iris's stern look and the use of his full name.

“We can discuss Barry and I’s relationship over a nice roast chicken at your next West family dinner, but right now, we should be focusing on how to fight this newest threat,” Len drawls, staring Iris down.

“We’ve faced speedsters before,” Caitlin says, icily, “we can handle this one without your help.”

Len turns to look at her. “Without my help, you wouldn’t even know there _was_ a new speedster and Barry'd probably be halfway to their lair by now. Not to mention that I have a gun _specifically designed to take down speedsters_ ,” he said, holding up the gun in question.

Barry frowns and looks between Len and the table it had been on when they had first arrived, the same table Len had swiped the gun from while everyone else was distracted. He didn't know what Barry expected, he is a thief, after all.

“You also just used that gun to freeze a man’s feet to the floor not twenty minutes ago,” Barry reminds him, walking closer and crossing his arms. Len reholsters the gun and crosses his own arms to mirror him.

“I already told you, Scarlet, the gun was on its lowest setting _and_ he was threatening the only one of those thugs with the good sense to give me some information on the _evil speedster that hired them_!”

“You can’t just _ice_ people like that, Len! It’s not right!” Barry shouts, frustration pulling his body taught. Barry always tenses up when he argues, like he’s preparing to run at a moment's notice. Len isn't sure if it's a speedster thing or a Barry thing.

Len takes in a deep calming breath, counting to ten as he lets it out. “Like you locking people in isolation without a trial? The world isn’t all black and white, Barry, and you should know that by now,” Len replies, keeping his demeanor cool rather than raising his voice back. He hates raising his voice, especially in an argument, because it reminds him of his father and the ‘lessons’ he used to teach him and Lisa. "I may be toeing the line closer to good these days, but make no mistake Barry, I'm no hero."

“I feel like we should leave, this is really something you two should deal with in private,” Cisco says, reminding the two that there are other people in the room.

Barry sags like his strings have been cut and he shakes his head.

“No, stay. Len and I should go,” he says. “I need to get some more food in me and we should all get some rest if we're going to be facing a new threat so soon after the Thinker."

“You want me to drive you, Barr?” Iris asks, eyeing Len like he's about to shoot Barry with the coldgun, or something equally criminal and violent.

“It's fine, Iris," Barry says with a sad smile. "Just an old argument that we can deal with together. But thanks for the offer." He rests his hand on her shoulder and gives it a slight squeeze and Len can't help the smug smirk that overtakes his face. Her return glare is completely worth it, especially when Barry let's go of her shoulder and steps back toward Len.

“We’ll talk about this more, later, okay?” he whispers, chickening out of the immediate argument. Len's glad it was him, because he was seconds from doing the same.

Still, Len nods. “Of course, Scarlet,” he assures, running a hand along Barry's arm before turning to address the other member of Team Flash. "One of you should probably get the elder West to take a statement from the warehouse goons, but I suppose we can wait until tomorrow to sort out an action plan."

Barry speeds out of the Flash suit and back into his civies in, as they say, a flash. Len takes out his commlink and sets it on the central desk right before Barry picks him up and speeds him to the nearest Big Belly Burger.

After ordering a frankly ridiculous amount of food (good ol’ speedster metabolism) and after Barry has inhaled at least half his stack of burgers, Len decides to broach the subject of their fight again.

“I shouldn’t have iced that man,” he says. Barry stops eating, a miracle to anyone that knows him, and looks up. “And I shouldn’t have frozen you out. I can be a little… frigid when I’m worried.”

Barry rolls his eyes at the puns and sets his burger down.

“I get that Len. But if you still want this relationship to go somewhere, then you have to respect my lines when it comes to things like this,” Barry sighs. “I don’t want to change you, Len, but seeing you in that warehouse, acting as if nothing had changed and you were the same Leonard Snart that derailed a train…”

He trails off, either unable or unwilling to finish his thought, but Len understands. He’s not the same man that derailed a train, or blackmailed the Flash and his friends, or even the same man that killed his own father. Being with the Legends changed him, and his stint in the timestream changed him further - in ways he doesn't want to think about yet.

They finish their meal in silence, both knowing the conversation wasn’t over, but neither willing to broach the subject again right away. Secretly they both hoped the other would forget about it altogether, even if it was a necessary conversation to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure what timeline we're following here, but basically, everything up to them defeating the Thinker happened (minus Barry/Iris (which between us has always squicked me out in the show since they were raised in the same house basically as siblings)) and also Harry (Earth-2 Wells) is still there and still smart.
> 
> Also, shout out to the person who pointed out that Joe already knew Len was alive in a later chapter, I went ahead and changed it to Iris this chapter!


	6. You've been cooling and baby I've been Drooling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry's day catches up with him and Len does some introspection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from _Whole Lotta Love_ by Led Zepplin

As much as Len loves being carried around the city in Barry's arms, too much super speed in one day doesn't agree with him so he insists on calling a cab for the ride home. Barry teases him about being an old man for calling an actual cab instead of using a rideshare app like a normal person, but he's actually really grateful Len called for a car. Even after filling up on Triple B, Barry doesn't have the energy to run them both back to the apartment.

He proves this by falling asleep against Len's shoulder halfway home.

Len can't help but smile softly down at the sleeping speedster, even if he is drooling on his leather jacket.

He almost lost his chance with this beautiful man today, due to both the actions of others and himself. That future-memory still lingers at the back of his mind, the way Barry had collapsed to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, how Other Len had been moments too late to save him. He didn't want to think about what would have happened had the thugs been able to cart Barry off to their boss, but based on Barry's past records with speedsters he's not betting on anything good.

On the other hand, the way he had responded to the threat against Barry had also almost cost him the very thing he was trying to protect. He knows he had disappointed Barry by falling back into old habits, ones that may not have entirely disappeared during his time on the Waverider but certainly weren't second nature anymore - not that he had demonstrated that change today. If Len's being honest - and who can he be honest with if not himself? - he disappointed himself today as well. He didn't regret them, per se, but he certainly wasn't proud that his gut reaction to his fear and anger had still been to hurt and threaten. It was an instinct his father had beaten into him.

Len fucking hated his father.

The cab pulls to a halt in front of the apartment block and Len gently shakes Barry awake so the younger man can pay for the ride. Len would have, but he hadn't exactly been carrying around cash when he had been split into atoms and he hadn't had a chance to pick up more spending money from one of his safe houses yet. Speaking of, he should really call his sister and tell her he was back. Preferably before she hears it through the grapevine. If there was one thing criminals loved more than breaking laws, it was gossip.

Barry yawns as he climbs out of the cab, blinking heavily and wiping at his mouth. He frowns when he finds wetness there and blushes when he sees the damp spot on Len’s jacket.

“Did I drool on you?”

“It’s fine, Scarlet, you were tired,” Len answers, holding the door to their building open.

“It’s embarrassing. I’m so sorry, Len, I can’t believe I fell asleep on you,” Barry groans. Len chuckles and shakes his head.

“You didn't exactly get much sleep last night," he leers, letting his eyes sweep up the speedster's body. He's rewarded with a beautiful scarlet blush racing up his Scarlet's cheeks. "C'mon, let's get you upstairs and into bed. To _sleep_ ," he stresses when Barry's blush deepens. Len ushers him into the elevator and presses the button for their floor. Barry, still groggy from his impromptu nap, leans on Len during the ride up, barely keeping his eyes open the scant seconds it takes for them to arrive on their floor.

He shuffles his way to their door, leaning against the wall next to it as Len fishes the keys out of Barry’s pocket. He definitely does not cop a feel while he's at it. Maybe a small one.

“At least make it to the bed before collapsing, Scarlet,” Len teases as he gets the door open. Barry hums and once the door closes behind them there’s a whoosh of air and the sound of a body hitting the bed. 

Len laughs, taking off his shoes and locking the apartment door. He putters around for a few minutes, taking in all the differences that have been made to the apartment that he hadn't been able to see yesterday. There aren’t a lot of them, despite the nearly three-year gap since Len was last here, a few new books on the bookshelf and new pictures on the mantle. There’s a lamp that had been in the other corner the last time he had lived here. A new throw on the couch and new movies in their collection. Otherwise, it was essentially the same and it broke Len’s heart to think of his Scarlet all alone in this apartment, grieving a man that no one knew he should be grieving.

Len finally makes his way to the bedroom, smiling when he opens the door. Barry is sound asleep under the covers, blankets tucked around himself and snoring lightly. Len’s heart clenches at the sight, so full of love and sadness at this man - not even thirty yet and already so much loss and pain in his life, and more sure to come, but he still manages to be so kind.

Len finds a box of his clothes in the back of the bedroom closet. His heart clenches at the sight, but he changes into his pajamas and slides in next to Barry, the other quickly shifting so he’s wrapped around Len, seeking his touch. Len curls his arms around him, one in his hair and the other around his shoulders. He gently presses a kiss to the top of Barry’s head and the speedster sighs, snuggling closer.

Len never wants to disappoint this man again.


	7. Day 7: Exhausted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Len have that conversation they've been putting off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's your second chapter of the day! Aren't you so lucky?
> 
> It's very angsty, but hopefully you'll like the character development. And don't worry, I'll be talking about Barry and Len's relationship pre-Legends as well.

Barry wakes up from a very pleasant dream involving mini-marshmallows, handcuffs, and a certain someone's parka when said someone pushes him off the bed. In fact, he was so rudely awoken due to the fact that his growling stomach had woken his boyfriend(? is that what you call the person whom you love strong enough to break a spell over?) Barry blinks, groggy and confused after his nap, which is a typical post-nap experience, and on the floor, which is not a usual post-nap experience.

“Huh?” He sits up and looks up at his boyfriend (he's going for it), who is still on the bed and still mostly asleep.

“Get some food, Scarlet,” Len grumbles, shifting on the bed until he’s comfortable again, burrowing himself further into the comforter like the blanket-hog he is.

Barry blinks a few more times, still not quite sure what's happening until his stomach rumbles again and he realizes exactly how hungry he is even after the mountain of food he consumed at Triple B. He slowly shuffles into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he shuffles through their menu drawer. He ends up ordering two large pizzas from the nearest pizza place and half the menu from his favorite Thai food restaurant. In the meantime, he scrounges up enough edible food to make himself a sandwich to stave off the hunger pangs.

After finishing his snack he takes care of the sinkful of dishes that have been piling up in his kitchen for the last week. He had planned to take care of it during his days off, but he's been a bit busy these last few days. He must be making too much noise because a few minutes later Len walks out of the bedroom, scowling and bleary-eyed.

“Did I wake you?” Barry asks, finishing with the dish in his hands and wiping his hands off with the kitchen towel. "Sorry, I was trying to be quiet."

Len hums and walks over to the cupboard, grabbing a glass and filling it up in the sink. Barry watches, an amused smile on his face, as he chugs the entire glass in one go.

“Thirsty?”

Len just scowls and pours himself another glass, sipping it much slower as he goes to lean against the kitchen counter opposite Barry.

Barry laughs and goes back to washing the dishes, humming to himself as he does. He's just finished with the last dish when he hears Len clear his throat behind him. Barry turns, a smile on his lips, which falls along with his stomach when he sees the serious expression etched across Len's face.

“Len?” Barry asks, concerned.

“We need to talk, Barry," Len says, his gaze somewhere on the floor between them, his jaw tight.

Barry stomach somehow drops even further. He's pretty sure it's dropped down somewhere in the Earth's mantle at this point.

“You’re not breaking up with me, are you?” he tries to joke, but it falls flat when Len’s expression just crumples.

“I _don't know_ , Barry," Len sighs, running a hand over his shorn gray hair. "That's something we need to figure out together, and we need to finish that conversation if we want to do that.”

Barry’s breath speeds up as everything else slows down to a crawl. He can feel the pulse of the Speedforce spreading through him, tensing all his muscles, getting him ready to run. He knows Len's right, knows he has to face this and actually talk about how this tenuous relationship can become something _more_ , but the thought of whatever it is they have ending (again) makes him want to run away and never come back. Len must sense this, even in the milliseconds that have passed, because Barry can see the way his muscles are tensing and flexing as he pushes himself away from the counter, the way his feet slowly push up from the ground, lingering in the air for what seems like minutes, then just as slowly crashing back down as he crosses the short distance between them, his arms reaching out in infinitesimal increments towards the panicking speedster. Barry could run, he could step around him and be out the door before Len even realized he was gone, but he kept himself in place, watching Len's slow trek across the scant feet between them. As soon as Len's hands actually connect with Barry's arms, though, everything snaps back into place as Barry drops out of Flashtime, the full force of Len's body connecting with his as Barry takes in a great shuddering breath and all but collapses against him.

“Just breath Scarlet," Len murmurs, rubbing his hands up and down Barry's back in calming strokes. Barry clutches against him, his hands digging into the worn t-shirt Len wore to bed, his head nestled against his neck as he breathes in Len's scent.

“I’m exhausted, Len,” Barry croaks. “I don’t want this to be the thing that makes me lose you, not after I just got you back. I've lost so many people and I'm _tired_.

“I know, Scarlet, I know," Len soothes, one of his hands coming up to thread in Barry's hair, stroking against the soft brown strands.

“Can't we just talk about this later? I know you're going to continue being Captain Cold, and I can live with that Len, I really can," he pleads. He feels Len shake his head against his and pull away. Barry clutches at him, but Len carefully pries himself away, only moving a few inches away. It's just enough that he can lift Barry's head and look him in the eyes.

“You say that now Barry, but I know you. You want to see the good in everyone, and especially me," Len caresses Barry's cheek, smiling softly, "but I'm not as good as you think I am. I've spent a lifetime being the villain, being a theif and a liar and a murderer. And you are too good to be alright with me continuing down that path."

Barry knows he’s right - he knows that even though he says he’d be fine with everything that comes with being Captain Cold, eventually his own sense of right and wrong would rear its head and he’s not sure the relationship would survive that. That doesn’t mean he wants to have this conversation now, even if he did start the fight in the Cortex earlier. Still, they both have things they need to work out, grievances that need to be aired before they begin dating properly because as it stands now they are in no position to start anything resembling a healthy relationship. So, with that in mind, Barry steps back and takes a deep breath.

“Okay,” he says.

He and Len migrate to the living room, Len taking the couch and Barry curling up in the armchair opposite.

It’s silent for a long time, neither knowing exactly where to start.

Finally, Len sighs and begins. “The first time we met I killed a man just to test your speed. I have kidnapped your friends, shot at you, blackmailed you, and betrayed you several times over. Somehow, despite knowing all this, you still want to be with me. I’m too selfish to say no, but I’m not past pushing you away by showing you exactly what kind of man I am. When we started this, I wasn’t expecting it to last more than a month, mostly due to the fact that I am, as I have been repeatedly reminded as of late, an asshole.” Barry tries to protest this, but Len raises a hand to quiet him. “That was _before_ you somehow convinced me I was a good man, and _before_ I died saving the universe. I don’t know what I am now, Scarlet, but I know that I never want you to look at me like you did today. I don’t want to disappoint you, Barry. And if I have to hang up the parka to do that, then I will without a second's hesitation.”

Barry has no idea what to say to that. He’s never meant that much to someone before, certainly not to a romantic partner. He pined after Iris for years and she never loved him back. Patty and Linda were nice, but he was lying to them most of the time and neither seemed all that crushed when they broke up - not that he wanted them to be. The few relationships he had before his powers were hardly worth mentioning, not when he was still hung up on Iris. And now here’s Leonard Snart, Captain Cold himself - a man he called his enemy - saying he’s willing to change for him, for Barry.

And Barry doesn’t want him to.

“Len,” Barry says, unfolding and leaning forward, “I don’t want you to change. Yes, I could do without the killing, but outside of your father and a few futuristic Nazis and otherwise very bad people, you haven’t killed anyone since our deal. And frankly, I don’t care about them. The Earth is probably better off without them, and I don’t care if that’s not a very heroic thing to say, it’s the truth. Your mob boss routine isn’t my favorite either, but I can understand its necessity in certain situations. But everything else? The heists, the banter, even the cruel but inevitable betrayal," Barry smiles with a certain sardonic twist of his lips, "it’s all a part of you that I enjoy. I fell in love with you during those heists, Len, and I don’t want them to stop. And if you want to help out Team Flash from time to time, I won’t say no, but I'm not going to push you into being a hero. Not again. You were right about Ferris Air and the pipeline, and despite the way you went about it, you were right that the Flash needed to be in the public eye. You help me see the bigger picture, Len.”

Something seems to relax in Len and Barry allows himself a breath of relief.

Len gives him a surprisingly hopeful look as he asks, "So the parka stays?"

“If you touch the parka, you’re sleeping on the couch for a week,” Barry growls. “I have _plans_ for that parka.”

“Oh?” Len smirks, raising his eyebrow and giving Barry a lecherous look.

The doorbell rings.

“I’ll tell you all about it,” Barry promises with a wink, “after I eat some more food.”

Suffice to say, the delivery drivers are very confused when the door is answered by a skinny dude with a wide grin, especially when his apartment does not, in fact, hold twenty other people.

The food is gone in less than thirty minutes. Len times it.


	8. Day 8: Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day at STAR Labs reveals some interesting motives for those warehouse fires and some surprise visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This prompt is all about STAR labs, I mean, how could I not set this chapter at the labs?

The next day, after some rest and some… less restful activities, Len and Barry make their way back to STAR Labs. Barry’s been lucky that he hasn’t been called in for work yet, but he knows his luck won’t last much longer. If it were up to him, he’d spend his time off with Len locked in their apartment catching up. But Len insisted that they needed to be prepared for the next time the new evil speedster would attack, and that meant going to STAR Labs. Barry loves that Len is concerned for him, and he can’t say he’s _not_ worried about this latest speedster threat, but at this point, Barry would be surprised if there _wasn’t_ an evil speedster after him. He thinks there must be some unwritten rule of the Speedforce that states that wherever there’s a _good_ speedster, there must be an evil one to fight them. Or perhaps that was an unwritten rule of superheroes? After all, Ollie has faced more than his fair share of evil archers and Supergirl’s fought a couple evil Kryptonians before. And outside their own screw-ups, the Legends mostly dealt with bad time travelers.

Huh.

“Hey Len,” Barry says, “have you ever had to fight another thief?”

Len pauses in the middle of the hallway and gives Barry a strange look.

“Once. In Gotham. Why?”

“Nothing, just thinking about balance in all things,” Barry says, continuing toward the Cortex.

“You say the strangest things, Scarlet.”

“Barry! Snart! There you are.” Cisco comes rushing around the corner, very nearly running right into the both of them, his tablet clutched in one hand. “Come look at this.”

They follow him into the Cortex and watch as he pulls up something on the main computer.

“Okay, so I did some digging into the warehouse fires and it looks like it was our guys every time. See, I pulled up CCTV footage from security cameras on the surrounding warehouses, and you can see the same three guys go into the warehouse,” Cisco points to where the men enter on all four security feeds, “and then a few minutes later the whole place goes up.”

“But why haven’t they attacked me before?” Barry asks, watching as the streak of lightning he recognizes as himself flashes into the warehouses.

“Well that’s the thing, look, if you watch the videos,” he points, “you’re in and out as soon as the fire’s out.”

“Except the last one,” Len says, watching the fourth video and the tiny black and white Captain Cold putting out fires. “You stayed inside after the fire was out because I was there.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the interesting thing,” Cisco plows on, ignoring the thick coating of guilt on Len’s words. “What’s interesting, is that Barry always checks to see if there are any civilians inside _before_ putting out the fire, but he never found these guys. So where were they? Why would they risk staying inside a burning building on the off chance they would be able to catch the Flash off guard? Why set the fire at all? I mean, I’m sure you could think of a dozen ways to lure Barry somewhere without burning down a building,” Cisco directs that to Len, and only cowers a little when Len glares at him.

“The point?”

“The point, is that I don’t think kidnapping Barry was the only job they were doing there.”

“So what? Nabbing the Flash was just a bonus?” Len growls, his hand reflexively clenching at his side.

“No. I’m saying that they were killing two birds with one flame, so to speak. I looked into the history of the warehouses, and they all have one thing in common: they were all owned by STAR Labs.”

“Why didn’t I know about them?” Barry asks. Cisco shrugs.

“They were all shut down by Wellsobard after the Particle Accelerator blew and were mostly used for construction materials before that.”

Len’s eye twitches.

“So you’re telling me that the hired goons of this mystery speedster were systematically destroying STAR Labs property with the intent of kidnapping the Flash afterward, and that said property held building materials the Reverse Flash was using to build the very thing that created the Flash?” he asks, slowly.

“Yes?” Cisco answers. He gives Len a confused look. Len rubs the bridge of his nose.

“The same building you used as your own personal prison? The one that houses a Particle accelerator?” Len asks.

“Yes…?” Cisco answers again, even more confused.

“And you don’t think there might have been a few things left behind in those warehouses that this new evil speedster might find handy?” Len stresses, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows. Cisco’s eyes go wide.

“Oh shit!”

“What?” Barry asks, looking between the two in confusion. “What’s in the warehouses?”

“Just enough excess material to replicate one of your meta prison cells,” Len says, leaning back and crossing his arms.

“Not to mention a small supply of dwarf star alloy Palmer Tech gave us,” Cisco adds, typing furiously on the computer.

“Great,” Barry sighs, collapsing back into one of the desk chairs. “So not only can this new threat build a cage that can subdue my powers, they can also make ATOM blasters.”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Cisco tells him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Now that we know they’ve got dwarf star alloy, we can track ‘em. I’m already running a trace.”

The computer beeps.

“See? Already done!” Cisco smiles and turns to look at the screen. The smile falls. “Uh-oh.”

“What ‘uh-oh’?” Len drawls, hand going for the Coldgun.

“Um, not to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like we’ve got a pretty decent amount of the stuff headed right for us. Fast,” Cisco informs them.

Len fires up the Coldgun and points it toward the entrance while Barry speeds into his suit and Cisco puts on his Vibe goggles. Barry moves beside his boyfriend and watches the entrance, Cisco standing beside him with one gloved hand raised, ready to blast the intruder.

The familiar sound of crackling lighting hits Barry’s ears and he speeds himself up, entering Flashtime and watching as Len’s finger slowly squeezes the trigger. Blue fire licks at the muzzle of the gun, slow enough for Barry to actually see the ice crystals form on the outside of the gun. On his other side, Cisco fires a blast of universal energy at the doorway, the blue energy slowly forming around his hand. Barry turns toward the doorway and facepalms as he sees Wally running into the cortex, Ray in his ATOM suit thrown over one shoulder.

Barry sighs and grabs Wally and Ray - carefully explaining Flashtime to them - and gets them to move behind Len and Cisco. Then he releases them from his grip and allows himself to slow down to match the regular flow of time, watching Len and Cisco’s blasts hit empty air.

“It’s just Wally and Ray,” Barry says. Len and Cisco whirl around, arms still raised, obviously shocked to see the two speedsters and Ray suddenly behind them.

Cisco clutches at his chest. “Man, don’t _do_ that!”

“Hey! Len, you’re alive!” Ray beams, moving toward Len with his arms outstretched.

“If you hug me, you’re ice,” Len snarls, gun lowered but his finger still on the trigger. Ray’s smile drops along with his arms and he backs away again.

“Noted.”

“Hey, now that you guys are here, maybe you can help,” interjects Cisco.

“What do you need?” Ray asks, clunking forward toward Cisco.

“Evil speedster after Barry, raided some STAR Labs warehouses and made off with enough tech to build a meta prison and a couple of those fancy blasters of yours,” Len explains, not about to sit through another nerd spiel.

“Welcome to Team Flash,” Wally grins and pats Len on the back. Len glares, but the kid only smiles wider. “Honestly, this is a normal Tuesday for the STAR labs crew.”

“Super.”


	9. Day 9: Precious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Wally have a heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but a sweet one - or at least I think so.

Barry steps away from the tech babble spewing from Ray and Cisco, only half of which he understands, and gestures for Wally to follow him into the hall. They walk a fair distance away, far enough that no one should be able to overhear them and then Barry stops.

“What’s up Barr?” Wally asks, frowning and crossing his arms.

“I need you to call the Legends using the Gideon in the Time Vault.” He runs a hand over his hair.

Wally nods. “Yeah, of course, man. I was going to try and contact them anyway, let them know we found Len, and all that.”

“Just,” Barry moves his hand to the back of his neck, “can you ask them if it’s permanent? That, whatever it was they did to bring him back won’t wear off suddenly and Len will be gone again. I can’t, I mean I just can’t lose him again,” Barry’s voice cracks and he hangs his head. “I’ve already lost him once, and I can’t- I can’t do that again.”

“Woah, hey, Barr,” Wally’s arms are suddenly around him and his smooth voice is coming from beside Barry’s ear. “Look, I don’t exactly understand how they brought him back, and I’m not sure why he showed up here, but from how Zatanna and Constantine explained it, it sounds like the spell they used is permanent.”

Barry leans back and rubs the moisture away from his eyes.

“Spell?”

“Did Len not explain how he came back?” Wally asks, dropping his arms and stepping away from his foster brother.

Barry shakes his head. “Not in so much detail. He mentioned something about fairytales and true love’s kiss, but he never actually told me how he was alive, or why he was a mushroom.”

“He was a mushroom?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. A mysterious glowing mushroom showed up and I licked it and it turned into Len,” Barry explained, waving it off.

“Man, and I thought Beebo was weird,” Wally muttered to himself.

He and Barry locked eyes and they both burst into slightly hysterical laughter.

“Our lives are so weird,” Wally managed to say through the laughter.

“I bet Oliver never has to deal with this kind of stuff,” Barry agrees, chuckling.

“Dude, I would take a magical mushroom boyfriend over the shit he deals with _any_ day. But, I mean, hey, it could be weirder,” Wally giggles.

“How?”

“We could be Batman.”

They dissolve into fits of laughter again, clinging to each other as they gasp for breath. Eventually, they collapse onto the floor, their laughter abating and a sudden feeling of sobriety hits them.

“I don’t think I could take losing someone else,” Barry says, somber and with his head leaned back against the wall. “I’ve already lost my parents, H.R., Eddie, Ronnie, I nearly lost you right after meeting you, Iris almost died last year, and Len died just as we were beginning to make something out of our relationship. I just, I don’t know what I would do if I lost someone precious to me again.”

Wally rests a hand on Barry’s shoulder and squeezes. “I can’t promise you won’t lose anyone else, loss is a part of life that we all have to deal with, some more than others. But I can promise that I will do everything I can to make sure you and Len get your time together.”

Barry smiles sadly.

“When did you get so smart?”

“You learn a few things when you run away to a monastery,” Wally answered with a grin.

Barry allows himself a short laugh and pushes himself to his feet, Wally following close behind.

“You should go call the Legends,” Barry says, brushing himself down.

“Yeah, and you should go ask your man about his resurrection story. I hear it’s pretty strange.”

Barry smiles. “Yeah, I will. And Wally?” Wally turns from where he was walking away. “You’re precious to me, too, you know that right?”

Wally grins. “Of course, Barr.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because there's nothing more precious to Barry than his family.


	10. Day 10: Flowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback to Len's time in the timestream, and the things he saw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I could think of when I saw the word 'flowing', in the context of this fic, was Time - the ebb and flow of time, the timestream, etc. - so I took it back again to Len's time floating around in the timestream.
> 
> Also, fyi, my idea of time is _heavily_ influenced by the tenth Doctor's speech in the RTD era episode 'Blink' - if you haven't seen that episode, well, first of all, what are you doing with your life? Go watch it! In fact, go watch all of RTD era Doctor Who, starting with the ninth Doctor. Secondly, you're missing out on what is possibly the best outside-POV Doctor Who episodes of all time. I mean, Ten's barely in it and it's still _sooooo_ good.
> 
> But this is not a Doctor Who fanfic, so I'll let y'all go ahead and read.

_Time flowed differently in the time stream. Whether you were a passenger on a time ship or floating noncorporeally through it, Time did not move the same way inside the stream as outside it. It eddied and shifted seemingly randomly, with offshoots sprouting up in strange places and odd time periods brushing up against each other._

_When Len had been traveling on the Waverider, he didn’t really think about it. He didn’t have to. Rip and Gideon handled the navigation and he just had to hold on for the ride. The timestream was just that, a stream where time flowed like water and the Waverider was their boat, guiding them downstream and up until they docked at the time they wanted._

_Being_ in _the timestream, however, gave him a completely different perspective on how Time worked. It was less like a stream and more like a whirlpool. It still flowed like water, but the current was much harder to break out of and it tended to fold into itself. There were breaks in the whirlpool, of course, like rocks in the current shifting the flow - places like Salvation and The Refuge. But much of the time you were at the whim of Time itself, and it was only with the aid of a ship that you could successfully navigate it._

_Len, of course, did not have a ship when the Oculus ripped him apart and scattered him in the timestream._

_For he was scattered, at least at first. He had no physical body left, that had been thoroughly destroyed by the sheer force of the explosion, and it was only because he had been so close to the Oculus that he had survived in any form at all. His mind, his memories, his soul, whatever it was that made him_ him _had all been spread out across the whirlpool of Time. But, like magnets, they had eventually found each other and coalesced into an approximation of the man he had been when he died._

 _But then he was stuck, floating in Time and at the whims of the current. He could ‘swim’ a little if he concentrated on one spot and_ pulled _but it took a lot out of him and he didn’t see much point in it anyway._

 _And no matter where he ended up in the timestream, he_ saw _things._

_His life, birth to death, every bad decision, every heartache, every person he hurt or killed, every bruise he received - it was all there, laid out for him to relive._

_And it wasn’t just his life as he had lived it. He also saw every variation on his life there was. Ones where his mother ran as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Ones where his father never went to prison. Ones where he died young, beaten and bloody and unloved. He ran away before Lisa was born in one, another he took her with him when he turned eighteen. Some he reported Lewis’s abuse and he and Lisa were sent to foster homes. In one of those realities, he was even adopted by Bruce Wayne, that billionaire from Gotham. There was a surprising amount of leather and kevlar in that one. Some he had never been born at all._

_But in most of them, he still ended up as Captain Cold: villain to the Flash. There were the occasional timelines where he was a good guy - in one he was even the Mayor. The Legends reappeared in quite a few timelines, though not always as time traveling heroes. There were quite a few where he was the leader of a group of villains called the Rogues - he remembered Barry saying something about recruiting a Rogue’s gallery, but he had been picked up by the Waverider before he could make that idea a reality. Some timelines, no matter the differences, played out similarly to his original, up to and including his death at the Oculus, though he had seen several realities where Mick or Ray had sacrificed themselves instead._

_One recurring theme, though, was his relationship with Barry._

_It wasn’t always romantic, or even always sexual, but he and Barry usually found each other and when they did they were always important to each other’s lives. Enemies, lovers, soulmates, friends, even adopted brothers. Sometimes Barry was the Flash and he was a normal civilian. Sometimes he was Captain Cold and Barry was a regular CSI. Len was occasionally good and Barry was occasionally bad, but no matter their relationship, they always seemed to balance each other in some profound way._

_Len wished he had had more time with Barry. After seeing all the ways their relationship played out, it made something deep inside him ache with the knowledge that he had left before their relationship had matured._

_So when he saw the Waverider, when Constantine offered him a way back, when Zatanna performed her spell - all he could think about was that he would give anything to see his Scarlet again._

_Becoming a mushroom for a few days was nothing compared to what Len had been prepared to offer._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "People assume Time is a strict progression of Cause and Effect, when actually - from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey........ stuff."
> 
> -The Tenth Doctor, Blink


	11. Day 11: Cruel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry opens up to Wally about his relationship with Len.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you haven't noticed, there is a rating change, and I've added the 'Implied Sexual Content' tag. Nothing is detailed, and I don't actually describe the act, but there is some heavy petting and making out.
> 
> Also, both Barry and Len have visible scars on their chests. Len's scars are more extensive and are from abuse visited upon him by his father, as is canon in the show. Barry has a Lichtenberg scar from where he was struck by lightning. It's my headcanon that while the Speedforce got rid of all his other scars, due to the nature of the lightning that hit him, he kept that scar.

Barry returns to the Cortex, and after a few minutes, so does Wally. Len had, at some point, wandered into the medical suite and was napping on the hospital bed in there. Cisco and Ray were still talking over ways to track down the speedster, since the STAR Labs satellite was still out of commission and thus they had no way of tracking the dwarf star alloy. Barry had just been contemplating joining Len for a nap when Wally rejoined them.

“Hey, Barr?” Wally nods over to the side room opposite the med labs.

Barry follows him in and crosses his arms. “What did they say?”

“Len’s fine, I didn’t really understand all of the magic stuff, but it sounds like whatever they did is permanent. Unless Len blows himself up with another Oculus, but that’s not gonna happen.”

Barry breathes out a deep breath and relaxes muscles he hadn’t known were tense. The knowledge that Len is safe, at least from disappearing into the timestream, is like a weight off his shoulders.

“Anything else?”

Wally shrugs. “They’re gonna round everyone up and bring them to STAR Labs, figure out what made Len turn into a mushroom, and see if they can’t help out with the new speedster problem.”

“They don’t have to do that,” Barry protests. “The speedster is my problem, I can handle it with the rest of Team Flash. I don’t want to distract them from their mission.”

“Bro,” Wally rests his hand on Barry’s shoulder, “we’ve been bored out of our minds lately, you’re not distracting us from anything.”

Barry smiles at him and rubs the back of his neck as Wally drops his hand. “I guess having some extra help would be nice.”

“Damn right, it would. Now, how come you never told me you were dating Captain Cold?” Wally asks, raising his eyebrows and wiggling them. Barry laughs and settles against one of the desks.

“I didn’t really tell anyone,” he answers with a shrug. “And you were still trying to find your place with Joe and Iris, I guess I just didn’t want to add any more distractions with my love life. Plus, you didn’t know I was the Flash, so it would have been kind of hard to explain.”

“True,” Wally agreed with a laugh and a nod.

“And we also hadn’t had the whole, ‘I’m bisexual’ talk. Which, I guess this is, now.”

“Nice to meet you, Bisexual, I’m Wally,” he grins and holds out his hand for Barry to shake. Barry laughs and takes the hands.

“Joe did the same thing when I told him.”

“Hey, but seriously though, it’s cool that you’re bi. I haven’t exactly labeled myself yet, but I’m definitely not straight.”

“Hey, congratulations, man,” Barry wraps Wally in a tight hug, patting him on the shoulder a few times before letting go.

“Thanks, I guess,” Wally laughs.

They sit there quietly for a few moments, feeling closer to the other than even the lightning could bring them.

“So, you never really said how you and Len started dating,” Wally said after a while.

“It’s pretty strange,” Barry replied. Wally gives him a ‘are you kidding me have you seen our lives’ look and Barry laughs. “Alright, I’ll tell you.”

~~~

_It was the night after Mardon had broken Snart out of prison at Christmas. Barry had just completed his nightly patrol, and after checking in at STAR Labs he ran back to Joe’s and sped out of his clothes and into a pair of soft pajama bottoms, not bothering with a shirt. He collapsed into his bed without turning on any of his lights._

_”Congratulations on not dying.”_

_Snart’s voice came from the darkness beside the bed. Barry just groaned, too exhausted to get up and deal with the thief._

_”Are you just going to keep breaking in to be dramatic, or does this visit have a purpose, Snart?” Barry didn’t move from his sprawl on the bed except to move his head toward the dark corner Snart was lurking in. Barry could just about make out his silhouette in the dark._

_”And here I was expecting a thank you,” Snart drawled._

_Barry leveraged himself up so he could turn and glare at the thief. “What exactly am I supposed to thank you for? Breaking into my house, twice? Breaking out of prison, again? Or am I supposed to thank you for refusing to work with me to fight Mardon and sparing me the inevitable betrayal?”_

_”I told you what Mardon and Jesse were planning, which made us square for saving my sister. Anything more and you’d owe me one. And I always cash in on favors.” Barry couldn’t see his face, but he knew Snart was smirking._

_”We’d have been square if you helped me take them down, but you still owe me for convincing Caitlin and Cisco to testify on your behalf. If they hadn’t proven that you were under duress while committing those crimes, powers or no, you would have been locked up in the meta ward instead of gen pop.”_

_”What do I owe you, then?” Snart drawled._

_Barry finally gave in and turned on his bedside lamp. Snart was sitting on his desk chair, which he had dragged into the corner by Barry’s window - no doubt his way in. He was sans parka this time, opting for a black leather jacket over a black sweater instead. His legs, which were clad in tight black denim, were stretched out in front of him. Barry was relieved to see that he had left the Coldgun with the parka, but he had no doubt there were other weapons on him. He couldn’t help but notice Snart’s gaze drop to his chest. His bare chest. Barry fought the urge to grab a shirt, but he could do nothing to stop the blush that crawled up his neck._

_”Guessing that’s a gift from the lighting,” Snart said, nodding to the Lichtenberg scar that spanned the length of Barry’s chest. Barry fidgeted on the bed._

_”We’re not here to talk about my scar, Snart,” Barry rebuffed, fixing Snart with a hard look. Snart smirked and leaned forward._

_”So tell me what you want in return for helping me with my trial,” Snart tilted his head to the side. “Anything you want, it’s yours.”_

_”I don’t want you to steal me anything, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Barry snapped. Snart leaned back, all casual elegance._

_”Wouldn’t dream of it, Scarlet,” the thief’s eyes flashed with something, some emotion Barry just couldn’t quite place. “But there must be something you want from me, Barry. Just name it.”_

_”I want you to stop being a criminal. You’re better than that, Snart,” Barry leaned forward with the intensity of his words._

_”Wrong,” Len leaned forward too, “but it’s cute that you think that.” He stood up and sauntered (yes, sauntered, he was only traveling three feet yet he managed to saunter in that distance) over to where Barry was still sitting on the bed and leaned down. Barry leaned back as he did until Len was practically laying over him, the thief’s arms bracketing him and his face less than a foot away. “What do you want from me, Barry?”_

_If Barry had even a fraction less integrity, if he hadn’t been thinking and worrying about Patty all day, if he had been even a tinge more exhausted, he might have leaned in and kissed Len right then and there._

_But he didn’t. Because he wasn’t the type of man to cheat on his girlfriend, especially not with a criminal._

_”You’re a liar. And a thief. And a murder. You’re cruel, dangerous, and you’re a criminal. If I want something from you, I will find you. But right now, I want nothing from you except to get out of my house.” Barry impressed himself with his ability to keep his voice cool and level._

_Len lingered a moment longer, ice blue eyes boring into Barry’s hazel ones. Barry didn’t know what he saw, but he saw the way his gaze hardened as he nodded and stood up._

_”You know how to find me,” Snart said, slipping back out of Barry’s window._

_A few minutes later, Barry heard the sound of a motorcycle engine revving and then slowly fading into the distance. It was only after he was sure it was gone that he allowed himself to collapse back on his bed._

_”Damn,” he breathed out, staring at his ceiling. Thank whatever gods were out there that neither Joe nor Iris had woken up. He didn’t want to think about the picture he and Snart had made just moments ago._

~~~

“Len broke in the night after I fought Weather Wizard and Trickster. I don’t know what is real motives were, but he ended up talking about the favors we owed each other. I didn’t see him again until after Patty and I broke up.”

~~~

_Barry had just gotten back from the train out of Central City. Patty may have broken up with him earlier, and it may have been a risk to his identity, but he couldn’t just not go save her - even if it turned out to be a false alarm._

_He had already run the suit back to STAR Labs. Cisco had tried to tell him about some break-in that was happening, but Barry had leveled him with his most exhausted look and Cisco had concluded that the police could handle things, at least for tonight._

_So Barry had run to Joe’s house, thankful again for the Flash-proof coating Cisco had developed so that he could wear his shoes at superspeed. He had said goodnight to Joe and Iris, schlepping up to his room and shucking off his clothes before collapsing onto his bed, not bothering with his lights._

_He had just fallen asleep, still lingering in that place between wakefulness and true sleep, when the sound of his window opening snapped him awake. He was up and holding the intruder against the wall in milliseconds._

_”Not how I expected this to go, Scarlet, but I’m not complaining”_

_”Snart?” Barry stepped back and turned on his desk light._

_Sure enough, Snart was standing in his bedroom again. This time, he looked every bit the part of Captain Cold, down to the goggles hanging around his neck._

_”What do you want this time, Snart?” Barry asked. Len smirked and let his gaze drop, his eyes raking up and down Barry’s form. Barry frowned and looked down, remembering that he was clad in nothing but his boxers briefs too late. He closed his eyes and sighed._

_”Well, I_ was _going to tell you about a fascinating new business opportunity I was just offered, but I think I’d rather just admire the view,” he drawled, finally bringing his eyes level with Barry’s again. Barry glared at him._

_”Let me guess, another criminal trying to kill me? Thanks for the warning, but I can handle it,” Barry nodded to his window. “You can leave the way you came.”_

_Snart tisked, “So quick to jump to conclusions, Barry. I’ll have you know that I was just recruited to save the world.”_

_Barry couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “And why would anyone trust you to save the world? You’re a villain, Captain Cold.”_

_Snart’s jaw clenched._

_”Cold, Barry, very cold. Apparently, I change my tune sometime in the future and become the kind of person people look up to. Figured you would be ecstatic. You finally have proof I can be a good man,” Snart tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms over his chest._

_”That’s great for you, Snart, but you’ll forgive me if I’m not in the mood,” Barry snarked, collapsing back on his bed and leaning back against the headboard._

_”You have been off your game tonight, Scarlet. Didn’t even see you at the heist tonight.”_

_”Of course that was you,” Barry mumbled to himself. He sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. “Sorry for not foiling your plans, Snart, but my girlfriend just broke up with me and I’d rather just wallow for a bit while I can, so if you don’t mind,” Barry gestured toward the window again, but Snart just moved closer._

_He sat on the edge of the bed and Barry couldn’t help but think back to the last time Snart was in his room. He gulped and could feel the heat crawling up his neck to stain his cheeks._

_”Sorry about your break up,” Len said softly._

_”Why are you here, Snart?” Barry sighed._

_Len looked away for a brief moment before turning back._

_”Tonight Mick and I, along with several others, were approached by a man calling himself Rip Hunter. He said he was a Time Master from the future and that he had been tasked with taking down a man called Vandal Savage,” he held up a hand to stop the protest building in Barry. “I know, you and the Hawks and your merry band of superheroes killed him. Apparently, he’s much harder to kill that you thought, and eventually he becomes a dictator crazy enough to give Hitler a run for his money. Hunter thinks we can stop him before he comes to power, and he only gave us a night to come to a decision.”_

_”So why did you come to me?” Barry whispered. This felt too intense to speak into the world, like if he talked too loudly whatever moment was happening here would shatter._

_Len stared at him, some intense emotion shining in his eyes._

_”I need you to tell me what the right thing to do is, Scarlet. I go on this mission and there is a very good chance I die. If I don’t, a madman destroys the world.”_

_”It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind. You don’t need me to tell you what to do.”_

_”There are things here that I’d still like to do, Scarlet. I could be returned moments after I left, but I have a feeling that if I say yes to this, I won’t be back.” Len looked at him so intensely, Barry felt he couldn’t breathe._

_”Wh-what do you want to do?”_

_Len’s eyes flickered down to Barry’s lips for a microsecond, but it was long enough for Barry to notice, and it was encouragement enough for Barry to do what he couldn’t last time._

_He leaned in and, raising a hand to rest on the back of Len’s neck, gently brought their lips together. His eyes fluttered closed and he held his breath as he waited for Len to respond._

_When he did, when he finally felt Len’s lips press into his, he couldn’t help the gasp of air that escaped him. Len took the opportunity to turn the kiss into something deeper, pressing forward and licking into Barry’s mouth. Barry raised his other hand and clung to Len’s back, pulling him forward and pressing their chests together. Barry shivered as the cold metal of the parka’s zipper pressed into his bare chest and the shiver turned into a full body vibration as Len’s hand tugged at his hair._

_Len pulled back, gasping and eyes wide and blown with lust._

_”What was that?” he asked._

_Barry grinned, wide and filthy. “I can vibrate every inch of my body.”_

_Len shuddered against him, shifting his body so he was straddling Barry’s legs and shucking off his parka. He unclasped his thigh holster and tossed the whole rig on the floor, the Coldgun making a loud thunk as it hits the ground. Barry used his speed to unlace Len’s boots, tossing them in the same direction as the gun, the shoes making twin thunks as they land._

_Len leaned forward again and clasped Barry’s head in his hands, leaning close. “Do it again,” he demanded, the words brushing against Barry’s lips. Barry shuddered, the movement flowing down his body, closely followed by the much faster vibrations his body was capable of._

_Len gasped against Barry’s lips and pressed closer, claiming Barry’s lips in a brutal kiss. Barry couldn’t help the moans that crawled up his throat, his hands grasping at Len’s sweater covered back. He dropped them to the hem and started to lift, but stopped when Len’s hands covered his._

_”No.”_

_”It’s only fair,” Barry replied. “Quid pro quo, Cold.”_

_Barry cheated a little, slipping his hands under the fabric and vibrating them against Len’s bare skin. Len shuddered and cursed. Barry grinned and, knowing he won, lifted and removed Len’s shirt in one quick move._

_Barry had expected the scars, had seen the pictures Caitlin had taken before the trial to corroborate the story of Len and Lisa’s abuse. But it was different in person._

_Barry ran his hands up Len’s chest, fingers ghosting over knots of scar tissue. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips against the jagged lines of a knife wound, the circular burns where a cigarette was put out against skin, dozens of scars of various ages and sizes that littered Len’s skin. Barry kissed them all._

_Len shuddered against him and grasped at his head. “Scarlet,” he gasped._

_Barry looked up. Len was looking at him so sadly he had no choice but to sit up, his face twisting into a frown._

_”Did I do something wrong?” Barry asked. Len shook his head._

_”I can’t stay, Scarlet,” Len whispered, running a hand against the side of Barry’s face._

_Barry felt like a bucket of water had just been dropped on him. “What?”_

_”I need to get my affairs in order, and I still need to tell my sister I’m going,” Len reminded him._

_”So you are going?” Barry asked. He knew the answer, but he had to ask._

_”It’s what you would do, isn’t it?” Len answered. Barry felt something twist in his stomach._

_Captain Cold had always been different. From the first time they faced off, Barry knew Leonard Snart wasn’t a regular criminal. He was smarter than the average meta Barry faced, and more impressive given his lack of powers. He held his own and did it with a flair for the dramatic even Ollie would envy. Yet, through all the puns and banter, Barry saw an honor to the way he worked, which he proved when he agreed to Barry’s terms. He did it for the thrill, not just for the money or the destruction he caused. He loved his city, even if he had an odd way of showing it. And after meeting his father and learning about his childhood, Barry honestly couldn’t blame him for the choices he made. He could expect better, but he couldn’t blame him._

_So it was no surprise to Barry to find he already had feelings for the thief._

_”Then can’t we just have tonight, if you’re leaving in the morning?” Barry begged. He knew his puppy dog eyes were lethal, and he had no compunctions about using them to get his way._

_He watched as Len’s resolved wavered and then crumbled._

_He almost couldn’t contain the victorious grin that wanted to stretch across his face as Len tackled him to the bed, biting and kissing along his jaw and down his neck and chest._

_And in the morning when he woke up to an empty bed, a note on the pillow beside him explaining that Len had to leave to catch his ship, well… He had had that night._

~~~

“It wasn’t really dating, per say. We hooked up, then the next day he was off on the Waverider to fight Vandal Savage.”

“But wait, I thought you had been dating for a while before he joined the Legends?”

“No, we just had that night. But the perks of being on a time ship is that you can go back to almost the exact moment you left without anyone being the wiser. So for the next six months, we’d talk using the Gideons, then Len would slip away when it was quiet, hop on the jump ship, and visit me in Central. But, I wouldn’t call it dating, exactly.”

“You were each other’s booty calls,” Wally says wisely, nodding his head. Barry blushes but doesn’t deny it.

“More or less. About five months in Len gave me a key to the apartment we would meet in, asked me to look after it,” Barry laughs. “His way of asking me to move in, I guess. We lived there together for about a month, then one day Len said he couldn’t visit me anymore. They were getting close to finishing off Savage and he couldn’t spare any time away from the Legends. I said I understood, we said our goodbyes, and then he left. And the next time I heard from the Legends, it was to tell me Len died saving the Universe.”

Barry can feel the tears wanting to fall, but he doesn’t let them, wiping his eyes before they make it past his eyelashes.

“I’m sorry, Barr.”

Barry shrugs. “He’s back now. And that’s what matters.”

Barry looks out through the glass walls and into the med bay, where Len was still curled on the bed, the soft rise and fall of his chest showing that he was still asleep.

“Who are you?”

Barry turns his head. Ralph is in the doorway, frowning at Ray where he’s sitting at the main desk.

“Ray Palmer,” Ray greets with a smile, holding out a friendly hand - though there were few things that Ray did that weren’t friendly or accompanied by a smile.

“Are you a member of Team Flash?” Ralph asks, taking the hand and shaking it.

“Oh, no, I’m a Legend,” Ray answers, with an even bigger smile.

“What the hell is a legend? I mean, other than a traditional story that’s thought to be historical but might be made up.”

“That’s what we call our team. Crew? We’re based on the Waverider, which is a time ship, so I suppose we’re more of a crew than a team,” Ray babbles.

“What the hell is a time ship?” Ralph asks, even more confused.

“Oh, uh, well, it’s a ship that can travel through time. Pretty self-explanatory.”

“Time travel’s a thing?!” Ralph shouts, surprised. His shout wakes Len from his nap and, upset at being woken up so rudely, grabs his gun and stalks out into the Cortex.

“Oh no,” Barry moans, watching his boyfriend level his gun at Ralph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Longer chapter! Also, I used the prompt both for Barry's attitude toward Len in the flashbacks (you'll notice that he's very sharp with his words, but it's mostly to hide the fact that he finds Len very _very_ attractive) and for the way the Universe separated them so soon into their relationship.
> 
> Please ignore any and all continuity issues, once I'm finished with Inktober I'll probably go back and fix everything and make this a more coherent story.
> 
> Also, also! Happy coming out day to all my fellow queers out there reading this! Whether you're coming out for the first time, tenth, or if you can't come out at due to your environment, you're all valid and I love you.


	12. Day 12: Whale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ralph gets caught up, time whales happen, and Joe is just confused.

“You better have a very good reason for waking me,” Len growls.

“You’re Captain Cold!” Ralph shouts, recognizing the gun more than Len himself, no doubt.

“And you’re an icicle if you don’t explain who you are, what you’re doing at STAR labs and _why you woke me up_ very quickly,” Len tells him, flicking off the safety.

That’s when Barry decides it’s probably a good time to intervene.

He speeds between them and carefully lowers the Coldgun, thumbing the safety back on and setting it aside.

“Okay, Len, that’s enough threatening for one day,” Barry soothes. Len grumbles and snatches the Coldgun off the table and shoves it into his thigh holster.

“Wh- Barry! What is he doing here, he’s a _villain_ ,” Ralph leans in and whispers that last part, darting his eyes toward Len.

“It’s fine, Ralph, he’s not a villain anymore,” Barry assures him. Ralph leans back and gives Len a disbelieving look.

“Yeah, Len was a member of the Legends,” Ray interjects. “Well, before he died saving the universe from a bunch of evil Time Masters.”

“He died?!” Ralph exclaims, looking between them all with disbelieving looks.

“I got better,” Len snarks.

“Sure, after Constantine and Zatanna cast a spell to give you your physical body back,” says Ray, smiling and nodding.

“Wait, wait, wait, so not only is time travel real, but magic too?” Ralph looks very confused before going pale and collapsing into a pile - and that’s a literal pile, his body stretching as it sank to the ground like a noodle being slowly dropped.

Len and Ray both recoil from the sight but Barry just sighs.

“Pull yourself together, Ralph.”

Ralph slowly un-noodled himself back into standing, but he doesn’t look happy about it.

“So, you’re a meta?” Len asks, raising an eyebrow coolly.

“I’m the Elongated Man,” Ralph replies, setting his fists on his waist and stretching tall. He destretches himself and looks around at the lab. “So, uh, besides time travel being real and magic, are there any other surprises today?”

“Barry and Len are dating,” Wally pipes up from behind them. Barry turns and gives him a betrayed look. Wally just shrugs at him.

“What?” Ralph exclaims.

“Oh and there’s a new speedster threat after Barry,” Cisco adds.

“Is there ever a week where you don’t have someone trying to kill you?” Ralph asks him.

Barry thinks. “Not really? I’d be more surprised if someone didn’t try to kill me if I’m being honest,” he shrugs.

Len grumbles and pulls Barry close. Barry blushes, because of course he does, but he doesn’t protest the embrace. Ralph’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline.

“Huh.”

There’s sudden explosion outside, followed by an impact that shakes the foundations of the labs. Everyone grabs onto the nearest stable surface - Cisco and Ray gripping the desk, Wally holds onto the doorway, Ralph stretches up and wraps himself around the ceiling supports, and Barry flashes him and Len to the med bay and braces them in the doorway. Once the shaking stops, Barry and Wally look at each other briefly before speeding outside, Barry making a pit stop to change into his suit.

Outside, there’s a large gouge in the parking lot of STAR Labs, pieces of smoldering and burning debris littered along the sides. At the end of the smoking trail, lays the Waverider. The once pristine time ship is nearly totaled, large holes in the side spewing smoke and other parts still on fire. The front window is cracked and broken, and it is through this hole that Barry and Wally run. They move through the ship, carrying out its crew in trips of two before doing another sweep and finally running clear of the wreck.

By the time they get back to where they left the crew the rest of the occupants of the labs have arrived outside.

“Helluva landing,” Len comments, raising an eyebrow at his former crew.

Sara coughs and sits up, glaring at the thief. “Shut up, Snart,” she rasps. She struggles to stand but eventually leverages herself into a mostly stable position.

The entire crew looks haggard and slightly burnt.

“What happened?” Wally asks, leaning down to help Zari stand.

Ray helps Nate stand, Ralph volunteering his services to Zatanna. Constantine and Mick are able to get themselves up before Barry can offer either a hand. Zatanna eyes Barry up and down and when she meets his eyes again she leers at him.

Len growls and moves closer to Barry.

“Space whales,” Nate replies. His eyes are bright and despite the way the rest of the crew looks he appears mostly unscathed except for some soot.

“Did you just say space whales?” Cisco asks. Nate grins and nods.

“More like time whales,” Sara corrects.

“Oh, those bastards,” Len hums. The Legends turn to him with various looks of betrayal and surprise.

“You knew about them?” Zari asks, outraged.

“I spent the last three years in the timestream,” Len reminds them. “We’ve crossed paths.”

“Well, looks like we're not going to be moving any time soon," Sara sighs, kicking at a piece of broken timeship.

“Those without places can stay at STAR Labs,” Barry offers.

The Legends all mumble their thanks and begin the shuffle inside, but that’s halted when a car comes careening into the lot. As soon as the car is stopped Joe tumbles out of it, gun out and a startled look to his eyes. He freezes when he sees the Legends, Barry, Ralph, and Cisco just standing there looking at him while the Waverider smolders behind them.

“Are you okay?” he asks, bewildered. The Legends look between themselves and shrug.

“Yeah,” Sara replies.

Joe slowly lowers his gun.

“Right,” he nods. He scans the crowd and his eyes lock on Len, standing with Mick near the back. The gun nearly comes up again but he catches himself. “Snart. Thought you were dead.”

“I’ve been getting that a lot lately.”

Joe nods again, not bothering to question it.

“We were headed inside if you want to join us?” Barry suggests. Joe holsters his gun.

“I should get back to the precinct,” he mutters. “You’re scheduled to work tomorrow morning, Barr, don’t forget.”

“I won’t, Joe,” Barry says, moving forward to give his foster father a hug.

“Family dinner tomorrow night, Wally,” Joe tells his son, the other speedster taking over the space Barry just vacated.

“Good to see you, Dad.”

Joe points a finger at the assembled group and the wreckage behind them. “I expect an explanation at some point.”

“Will do, Joe,” Barry promises. “Go do your job.”

Joe nods, glancing behind him as he climbs back into his car. His face shows his befuddlement and he keeps shaking his head while he backs up and drives away.

Barry turns to address the group. “Inside? We’ll call Caitlin and she can see about tending to any wounds.”

The group nods and shuffles inside.

“You live a very strange life,” Ralph comments as he passes. Barry levels a frown at him.

“You can stretch like putty.”

Ralph shrugs. “Which I wouldn’t be able to do without you and DeVoe, which just proves my point.”

He walks away and Barry sighs.

“You want to stay or go home?” Len asks, coming up beside him. Barry groans and presses his head to Len’s shoulder.

“Is it wrong that I don’t want to deal with this until tomorrow?” he asks.

Len chuckles and wraps his arms around him. “Not at all, Scarlet.”

Barry decides to wait until Caitlin gets there and helps the Legends set up temporary living spaces in the lab. There’s a dorm-like area a few floors above the Cortex that they end up commandeering for their stay, though Jax, Stein, and Mick all opt to stay at their own places in the city.

Once Caitlin gets there, Barry says his goodbyes and zips he and Len back to their apartment, changing them both into their pajamas at superspeed and settling them into bed just as fast. He curls against Len and, even though it’s barely dark out, he falls fast asleep.

He dreams of time whales that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time whales. Why not?

**Author's Note:**

> Fic title from _Under Pressure_ by David Bowie and Queen


End file.
